


Your Love Is Mine

by villalunae



Category: Homestuck
Genre: 100 Ways to Say I Love You Writing Challenge, 101 ways to say i love you because i like to go the extra mile for these shits apparantly, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, alternate universe - theyre in love forever n ever n ever n ever n ever n ever n ever, god there are more i just dont remember half of them, strap in im gonna take yall on a wild 100 chapter ride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2018-12-09 11:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 101
Words: 31,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/villalunae/pseuds/villalunae
Summary: One Hundred Ways to Say ‘I Love You’ and one hundred ways to make it as cliched and trope-filled as possible. Jump on my wild ride and strap in, boys, this may take a long while.





	1. “Pull over.  Let me drive for awhile.”

**Author's Note:**

  * For [all you fuckers still keeping tabs on this tag](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=all+you+fuckers+still+keeping+tabs+on+this+tag).



> Prompt list is here: http://p0ck3tf0x.tumblr.com/post/98502010026/one-hundred-ways-to-say-i-love-you
> 
> I was bored a night or two ago and decided, you know what? I don't have anything better to do, let's have at it! These will all be as long as I make them, depending on how much I like the prompt. They'll hopefully all stay in order, but if they don't, I claim no responsibility. I'm doing this as sort of a background thing when I'm bored or stumped on other plot bunnies, so if it doesn't update for a while, assume it's because I'm writing something //really// good and don't want to stop. :P You can consider each one it's own story, in it's own universe, but there might be a few that could be connected to one another.

 “God, are we ever going to get there?”

 Karkat’s muttering and scribbling as he poked and prodded the large map in his hands was starting to grind on Nepeta’s nerves. It was past midnight, but she wouldn’t know that, due to the fact that the radio clock had ceased to work two days ago. Following that, they could barely see twenty feet in front of them with the slight flickering of the headlights every few seconds. How he had convinced her the car he bought for a thousand bucks would be good for a cross-country road trip, she wouldn’t know.

 “Look, I’m pretty sure we’re here --” Karkat picked up the map and used an old, chewed-on pencil to point at some spot she couldn’t see. “--Driving down route fifty-four, but I can’t fucking tell where the hell we are in relation to the rest of the road.”

 “Maybe there’ll be a sign somewhere.”

 Nepeta would have suggested to check the phone’s map, but they had lost reception somewhere in the fifty miles behind them.

 “I fucking doubt it,” Karkat said with a heavy groan, “Could barely read the fucking map, how either of us will be able to see a sign, you tell me.”

 Nepeta didn’t answer him, instead propping her elbow on the window’s side and plopping her cheek into her hand, letting out a short, quiet sigh. Karkat folded up his map, and the only thing keeping her awake was the sound of the paper rustling. He stashed it in the dash and closed it with a snap, and the car was silent for the first time in miles. Her eyes were heavy long before any of this, and now, without Karkat’s constant noise, the road started to wear on her.

 After a minute, he noticed.

 “Hey,” Karkat said, turning to look at her. “You’re passing out on me.”

 “Am not.” She tried to sound like she was poking fun, but only seemed to confirm his statement.

 “Are _too_ ,” He replied with a slight glare. He stared at her like this for a short moment, and Nepeta’s eyes trailed to meet his. He broke the short silence with the words, “Pull over. Let me drive for awhile.”

 “What?” Nepeta asked, perking up in her seat and her hand falling off her face. “No!”

 “You’re gonna drive us off the road like you are, just let me --”

 “No! _No_ , we agreed I would drive at night--”

 “Yeah, and that was before I found out that driving made you sleepy, so pull over, jackass.”

 Nepeta turned to narrow her eyes at him, and they were stuck in a glare-off for a second before Karkat cracked a smile at her. He knew her too well.

 “. . .  _Fine_.” Nepeta said begrudgingly, and before he could say anything, she added, “But you better drive until tomorrow night.”

 “Will do.”


	2. “It reminded me of you.”

 “ _Karkat_!” Nepeta squealed, dropping her luggage in the busy airport the moment her eyes caught him. Kanaya grabbed it before it hit the ground, and Nepeta ran across the sudden parting of people to get to him. He turned a second before she got there and wasn’t ready for her to jump up and grab onto him, locking her legs around his back and making him stumble backwards with the sudden force. He managed to wrap his arms around her back as she squeezed, making incoherent noises into his jacket.

 “ _Jesus_ , Nep --” He enunciated clearly, trying to maintain his balance. “You don’t have to do this every time you get off a plane --”

 “But I _want_ to!” Nepeta exclaimed, pulling backwards to see his face, still in his arms. “I don’t see you for a _week_ , don’t you stand there and complain!”

 “Yes, Karkat, let her live,” Rose noted, coming up into view. “If I knew Kanaya could hold me in her arms, I would do the same thing.”

 “Fortunately, I can’t,” Kanaya said from behind them, toting now two luggage bags. “But I _can_ do this --” She let got of both bags and seized Rose around the waist, surprising her and swinging her around, finally dipping and giving her a long, sweet kiss. Karkat rolled his eyes.

 “Hey, don’t try to one up--”

 Nepeta let go of his back and grabbed his face, bringing him close and smacking her lips into his. She could feel Karkat’s shock, but he quickly melted into her and stood his ground. She couldn’t see Rose and Kanaya, but they parted before the other two did, at the least, as when she did pull away, Rose was standing with a hand on Kanaya’s shoulder, looking dazed.

  "I believe we’re even on the romance front,” Kanaya noted, smiling softly and Karkat nodded, not saying anything more. Nepeta grinned at him, unlocking her legs and sliding off of him.

 “I got you something!” She exclaimed, patting his arm before she grabbed onto her luggage. She unzipped only the top and reached inside to fish it out. “We saw this like, all over Boston --”

 “We just found it yesterday,” Kanaya explained, and Karkat glanced at her with a wearing look. “When we went whale watching, one of the crew members gave her theirs. It was very sweet. He was --”

 “-- He was  _not_ flirting with me,  _Kanaya_ ,” Nepeta squinted at her. “He saw me leaning over the side of the boat earlier and took _pity_ on me, there is a _drastic_ difference.”

 “Who knows, maybe he saw you heaving and knew you were the one,” Rose suggested, “It parallels your current relationship.”

 “Ah, yes, I’ll never forget how we met through you throwing up on the pavement outside a fucking ice cream shop,” Karkat reminisced, and Nepeta raised her eyebrows and pouted her lips.

 “Food poisoning is a dangerous thing,” Nepeta noted.

 “But _you’re_ lactose intolerant.”

 “And the poor waitress did nothing wrong,” Kanaya figured, and Rose wrapped an arm around her. Nepeta rolled her eyes, just as she found what she was looking for in the sea of clothing.

 “There! Okay, okay --” Nepeta pulled it up to the top, but kept it in the luggage for the reveal. “Now, before you see it, I want to remind you that I _love you_ \--”

 “Just pull it out,” Karkat told her, eager to know.

 “That’s what she said,” Rose told them, and earned a slap on the arm.

 “Alright, okay, here we go --” Nepeta grinned at him and, with a tug of one arm, slipped it out of the luggage and out into plain sight.

 It was a crab hat.

 “It reminded me of you!” Nepeta gave him the biggest smile she could, and Rose started laughing.

 “You have to wear it, now,” Kanaya told him, pointing a finger in his direction. “Nepeta didn’t vomit off the side of a boat just so you could reject her gift.” Karkat bit his lip, looking at her.

 “Do I--”

 “ _Yes_ ,” All three of them said, and that was that.


	3. “No, no, it’s my treat.”

 “ . . . And a shot of espresso,” Nepeta finished, smiling at the cashier, who nodded and look at Karkat expectantly.

 “Just a small cappuccino,” Karkat noted, and after Nepeta’s long order, they looked relieved.

 “You don’t want a --” Nepeta started to ask, but Karkat shook his head.

 “No, I don’t need anything else before ten in the morning,” Karkat told her, and Nepeta raised her eyebrows.

 “Are you _sure_ \--”

 “I’m sure.” Karkat gave her a small smile, and Nepeta returned a bigger one.

 “That’ll be ten dollars and thirty-five cents,” The cashier explained, looking between the two of them. Nepeta began to reach into her purse, but Karkat stopped her, pulling out his own wallet. She looked at him curiously.

 “You don’t have to --”

 “No, no, it’s my treat,” Karkat said, adding, “It’s only like, ten bucks anyway. Seven of which was spent on yours, so --”

 “Okay, but really, you don’t --”

 “It’s fine.”

 “You sure?”

 “I’m sure.”


	4. “Come here.  Let me fix it.”

   “You’ve got your tie wrong.”

 He _knew_ that. Nepeta pointing it out just made it worse, but as she brushed her hair, he fumbled with the black fabric in the mirror, trying his hardest to figure out exactly just how to do it. His father never taught him, so it wasn’t a big surprise that he couldn’t.

 “You sure you can handle that yourself?” Nepeta asked him sweetly, smiling up at him through the mirror. Karkat glared.

 “I’ve got it _under control_ ,” He scowled, and took the tie off, figuring to restart the entire thing. Nepeta looked him over.

 “Really? I couldn’t tell.” Nepeta’s teasing grin only served to piss him off a little more, and he fumbled again, trying to make it all right. Under and over, make a loop and back through, but -- wait, no, not right -- and try as hard as he may, the tie was impossible to tie. She watched him struggle for another moment, before taking a bit of well-earned pity on him.

  “Come here. Let me do it,” She told him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him to her. He was about to say something, about to resist, but knew it would do him no good. She undid the mess he had made and let it lay under his collar before she started, taking it over, then under and up; to his right, under and up again, under, across, up, through the loop, and pulled tight. She adjusted it slightly, before patting his chest and smiling up at him. Karkat looked down at his tie, and Nepeta noted, “There, see, not so hard!”

 “How’d you learn?”

 “My mom taught me. She’d practice on me, and then I’d do it myself,” Nepeta sighed, smiling. “She wanted me to know just in case I ever dated a stupid guy like you.”

 “Ouch, that one hurts,” Karkat put his hands over the one she had on his chest. “I don’t know how I’ll ever recover from that.”

 “You’ll manage it somehow, I’m sure.”


	5. “I’ll walk you home.”

 A late Thursday night, coupled with a general feeling of despair and frustration; a not-so-good mix of feelings for Nepeta as she walked down the street, alone and cold. She should have worn a thicker jacket, a sturdier sweater -- instead she had chosen for leggings and no scarf, and a terribly red nose and rosy cheeks.

 “I _knew_ I shouldn’t have gone, _why_ did I even convince myself . . .” Nepeta quietly muttered, every word emitting a clear fog of air from her lips. “It was so _stupid_ , everybody there was _stupid_ , I just can’t believe . . . .”

 She let out a heavy sigh, looking directly at the ground and rubbing her crossed arms, sniffing slightly and picking up her pace; it was dark, and she didn’t want to be out this late. She had planned to go home with someone, but after seeing the mess she had just gone through, she felt the sudden urge to leave.

 “ _Why_ am I like this, why can’t I just _sit_ there and _listen_ and be listened _to_ , there’s absolutely no reason I couldn’t’ve --”

 “Nepeta?”

 She stopped dead in her tracks, her breath hitching and her head flying up, meeting Karkat’s.

 “What’re you doing out so late?” He asked her, narrowing his eyes as he leaned on the side of what seemed to be an apartment building. “It’s past eleven and it’s freezing fucking cold out here.”

 Nepeta didn’t answer him for a moment, still in shock, but managed to find some words, albeit mismatched and hasty. “I -- I was at a, at a . . . at a party.”

 “A party?” Karkat asked, suspicious. “Nepeta, it’s a _Thursday night._ Who throws a party on a Thursday night, you’re not even _in_ party clothes.” He stopped leaning on the building and came closer to her.

 “I just -- A friend threw it, he -- he thought it would be --”

 “Come to think of it, you don’t even come to this part of town at all,” Karkat noted, looking down at her. “You live way over on the west end, I’m pretty sure I’m the only person you know who lives here.”

 “He -- He was a --” Nepeta gulped, glancing away from him. “He was an old -- an old friend.” He didn’t seem to believe any of this, and only seemed to be growing more doubtful the more she talked.

 “You okay, Nepeta?” Karkat asked her, narrowing his eyes. “You’re all pale and shaky.”

 “It’s because it’s cold, Karkat.” Nepeta said, coldly. “I’m cold.”

 “You sure that’s the only problem?” He questioned, adding with a stern look, “Look, if something happened --”

 “I’m fine, Karkat.”

 “--I just want to make sure you’re alright.” He finished, having paused slightly for her to talk. “You don’t have to talk about it or anything.”

 “I’m fine,” She lied.

 “If you say so,” Karkat sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. “But you live all the way on the other side of town. You’re gonna have to catch the subway.”

 “Yeah.” Nepeta said. “I know.”

 He glanced at her. “Well, look, I’ll join you.”

 “What?”

 “Let me walk you home,” He said, staring at her. “It’s late, it’s cold, I’ve got nowhere else to be. I’ll walk you home.”

 “No, I’m fine --”

 “I’ve got a seven day subway pass, anyway, may as well use it all up.” Karkat started walking in the direction of the station, but Nepeta did not, instead watching him move ahead of her. He stopped a few feet ahead, turning back to look at her. “Well? You coming?”

 Nepeta thought for a moment.

 “Sure.”


	6. “Have a good day at work.”

  “Nepeta! Aradia’s here!”

 He could hear her running upstairs, and saw her come down the stairs themselves, frantically putting on a jacket as she rushed. Her hair was still a mess and her shoes were in one hand, and as she got to the bottom, she kissed him on the lips from the second step up so he wouldn’t have to bend over.

  “I’ll see you later!” She said, smiling at him as she dropped her shoes on the floor, slipping into them quickly. Karkat grinned.

 “You sure you wanna go out looking like that?” He asked her, and when she looked back at him, he pointed at her hair.

 “Oh, shoot --” She sprinted to the mirror in the hall and tried to fix it as quickly as she could, petting it and running her hand through it a few times in order to make it better. Karkat walked over to her.

 “Aradia’s got combs all over her car, _remember_ ,” He noted softly to her, and Nepeta seemed to realize this, as she stopped petting her hair.

 “Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah you’re right.” Nepeta let her arms fall to her side, and Karkat puts his hands on her shoulders, leaning down the rest his head on hers.

 “You look fine,” He noted.  
  
 “Getting up fifteen minutes ago, I don’t think I can agree,” Nepeta bit her lips, looking up at him in the mirror.

 “Well then you look great for getting up fifteen minutes ago,” Karkat corrected himself, and Nepeta nodded, turning to him and giving him a tried and true smile. He leaned down and kissed her again, and she smiled as he let go.

 “Have a good day at work, kit.”

 “Have a good day lying on your butt, kat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DO YOU GET IT
> 
> KITKAT


	7. “I dreamt about you last night.”

 “I dreamt about you last night.”

 Nepeta’s voice over the phone had gone soft, and he struggled to hear her.

 “You dreamt what?”

 “About you,” She said again, “You were on the side of the road, like, a hitchhiker, and --”

 “Wait, a hitchhiker?” He asked, “Like, was I sticking my thumb out or --”

 “I dunno!” She exclaimed, her voice crackling slightly from the static. “But I picked you up! And you said you wanted to go to some house, and so I took you there, but it was _haunted_.”

 “Did we go full scooby-doo?”

 “We went _full_ scooby-doo.”

 “Huh.” Karkat leaned back in his bed. “Sounds serious.”

 “It _was_. You fell into a pit of lava and I cried, and then the monster almost, like, killed me, but then you came back.”

 “Resident evil style?”

 “Oh yeah, on a wave of lava and all.” Nepeta almost sounded impressed.

 “Badass.”

 “Really was, and you ripped the head off of the monster, but then it was revealed to be your _brother_ .” Nepeta let out a sigh. “It was _so_ dramatic!”

 “Monster and my brother are synonyms, I’m pretty sure,” He noted, and Nepeta let out a small laugh.

 “Karkat, _really_ , he’s not all that bad --”

 “You’re not the one who grew up with his vapid preaching!” He exclaimed, throwing out an arm in exaggeration. “He was almost as shitty as my dad! Never could shut the two of them up!”

 “Your dad is a nice guy, Karkat!” Nepeta said through the phone. “He knows how to sew!”

 “Oh, so sewing means you’re a good person, now,” Karkat asked. He knew she was nodding.

 “Yes, absolutely. If you can sew, you can do anything.”


	8. “Take my seat.”

   Nepeta hopped onto the subway amid the masses already there, and the masses getting on. It would be full to the point of bursting in another stop, and Nepeta was shoved up against the fifty other commuters ready to get started for the day. She grabbed onto a rail and held on, standing in front of a seat and hoping for the best as the car doors closed.

 A quick sigh later, she could hear from behind her the words, “Hey--”

 She turned around, looking to find the voice and found it in the person sitting behind her. He was tall, a messy head of black hair and tired, grey eyes meeting hers. She looked at him for half a second, wondering if he had addressed her. He had.

 “Here, take my seat.” He told her, moving to stand, and Nepeta quickly waved him off.

 “I’m alright, really --”

 “No, go ahead,” The man stood fully, almost a foot above her own height, and she felt it best to sit if he was offering. Nepeta gave him a short smile.

 “Thank you.”

 “It’s good.”


	9. “I saved a piece for you.”

 Karkat plopped down in the place next to hers, still hassled from the rest of the day.

 “You sure got home late,” Nepeta noted, smiling over her empty plate at him. Karkat leaned back in his chair, slouching back and groaning. He rubbed his face.

 “I spent the last _eight hours_ listening to a bunch of stuck-up asswipes talk about some weird fucking problem that none of them actually cared about,” Karkat told her, “They brought in a fifth pot of coffee and I could’ve killed them all right then and there.” She raised her eyebrows.

 “I’m sorry, kat,” She smiled at him in pity, “If it helps, I saved a piece for you!”

 He looked at her at that.

 “A piece of what?”

 “I made one of those weird special brownie mixes, it required like, a bunch of sugar --” Nepeta put her hands in a bit of a square, gesturing, “It didn’t make a lot, so I ate most of it over the course of the day. It was really good!”

 “Where is it?”

 “On the counter in there,” Nepeta told him, and when he moved to get up, she stopped him. “No, _I’ll_ get it. You sit there.”

 Karkat smiled at her. “Whatever you say.”


	10. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“This is it.”

Nepeta gestured down to the headstone planted in the ground. It was small, and had her last name on it. Karkat looked down at it, seeing the few flowers strewn across the grave.

“That’s your dad?”

“That’s my dad.”

She hadn’t visited in a long time.

“His funeral was terrible.” Nepeta put her hands in her jacket pockets. “It was hot outside and everyone was crying, and someone fainted of heat exhaustion. Stole the show for the rest of the day, everyone was so _concerned_ over her.” She resented that.

“Was he a nice guy?” Karkat asked her, and Nepeta nodded.

“He would never come home without a smile on his face,” Nepeta said, sighing and looking up at the cloudy sky. “He’d always kiss me on the cheek, and he wouldn’t raise his voice. He only did that once, and that was because Meulin almost fell off a cliff.”

“He sounds perfect.”

“He was.”

They stood in silence for a second, Nepeta looking back down at the grave. It seemed she had forgotten any grievance she once had, her face blank and staring.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” He said, and she nodded.


	11. "You can have half."

 “ . . . And _then_ , you won’t believe this --” Terezi snorted into her hand, a grin neatly painted on her face. “--He  _actually_ got up, grabbed the dog --”

 “Oh, please, _don’t_ \--” Feferi protested, looking away and pouting, but Nepeta sat close, eager to hear her.

 “--And put it,” Terezi paused for dramatic effect, “In. The _bag_.”

 “No! No, no! Gross! _Gross_ !” Feferi said, standing up and waving her hands, “ _Disgusting_! No! I’m not listening anymore!”

 “Oh come on, Peixes, don’t be such a pansy!” Terezi teased, “Nepeta’s got a sturdier stomach than you! She’s not fazed, she doesn’t care that the bag was full of --”

 “You don’t have to say it again!” Nepeta quickly told her, patting her arm. “We got it the first time!” Terezi began snickering and Nepeta waved her off, looking slightly ill. Feferi pushed away her food, throwing her head back.

 “You’ve ruined my appetite, I hope you’re _happy_ ,” She snapped and glared at the ceiling, “Just _had_ to tell your story during lunch, really, _unbelievable_.” Terezi stuck her tongue out, squinting through her glasses.

 “Oh, oh, I’m _so_ sorry --”

 The door opening to the little restaurant interrupted her, and so did the sight of Karkat. Terezi gave him a grin and nudged Nepeta’s arm.

 “There’s your _boyfriend_ \--” She hissed out the side of her mouth, and Nepeta gave her an annoyed look in return. Karkat spotted the three at their table and nodded to himself, moving over to them and sliding off his messenger bag. He plopped it on the chair and sat down, giving them all a slight wave, and Feferi sighed.

 “You missed Terezi’s  _best story_ yet,” Feferi said, shooting the aforementioned a glare, “She was telling us all about her neighbor, the rabid _animal abuser_.”

 “He took the dog out of the bag after a second!” Terezi’s voice raised in pitch, defensive. “He only did it once!”

 “And you tell me this _now_?” Feferi’s pitch matched hers. “ _After_ I almost vomit!?”

 “It was funny!”

 “It was _not_!”

 “What the fuck are we --” Karkat started, but Nepeta shot him a look and shook her head, motioning to let the two fight it out. He glanced back at the two, now engaging in a debate as to how much fake-out was too much, and rolled his eyes, sighing. “Nevermind,” He finished, and Nepeta smiled.

 “How was your day?” She asked, hoping he could hear her over the noise the other two were starting to make, and apparently he could.

 He answered, “Terrible,” and Nepeta frowned.

 “Oh, I’m sorry --”

 “Doesn’t matter.”

 Karkat wasn’t looking at her, instead at the table between them, and Nepeta pursed her lips in thought. This . . . This would look normal, right? Like, it wouldn’t be totally awkward for her to do this, right? After a moment passed and she had come to terms with it, Nepeta pushed her plate towards Karkat, letting it sit in between them.

 “Here!” Nepeta said, trying to sound nice and not weird. “You can have half!”

 Karkat looked at her when she said it, then at the plate now sitting in between them. She had barely touched her food, too enraptured by Terezi’s harrowing story of not-really animal abuse, and hoped that the very little she had ate wouldn’t put him off too much. He looked up back at her, not glaring, but looking confused.

 “You want me to --”

 “I wasn’t gonna eat much, anyway!” Nepeta added hastily, “You just -- You should eat something! It would make you feel better!” Terezi glanced at her as Feferi explained that, morally speaking, this was totally _not_ okay, and she shot her a grin, one that Karkat didn’t notice.

 “ . . . Okay, fuck, sure,” Karkat sighed, pulling the plate towards him. “If you’re offering --”

 Nepeta smiled, and she felt Terezi’s leg kick hers, and a bolt of heat started to appear in her face.

 She kicked her back.


	12. "Take my jacket, it's cold outside."

“You are -- You are _insufferable_.”

“Hey!” Karkat exclaimed, holding his arms out. “ _I’m_ the insufferable one? _Really_?”

“Yes!” Nepeta told him, jabbing a finger into his chest and pouting. “You _are_!”

“We’re just going to forget eighth grade --”

“We! Don’t talk! About eighth grade!” Nepeta yelled, “Eighth grade didn’t happen! Never happened! I skipped a grade and it never happened, moving _on_ \--”

“Oh,” Karkat noted, grinning, “So you being a fucking fur--”

“No! Do not finish that sentence!” Nepeta smacked his arm, despite knowing that, deep inside, the phase would never be over. Karkat opened his mouth again, and she quickly added, “Don’t make me come up there, Vantas!”

“You couldn’t reach me if you tried.”

“You’ve sunk low enough for me to _reach_!” Nepeta reached up and seized the collar of his jacket, just for emphasis, and pulled him down just enough for him to realize the threat. Karkat laughed, throwing her hand off of him.

“Alright, I get it, you’re a _menace_ \--”

“Good!” She said, crossing her arms and walking ahead of him, moving faster towards the door. She heard Karkat stop laughing after a moment, and she smiled to herself, almost close enough to go and open the door for him.

She heard him catch up, saying, “Woah, wait --” and she turned around to see him move right behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking a little concerned. She gave him a look.

“What?” She asked, and he pointed outside.

“Did you _not_ see the snow?” He asked her, glaring slightly. She looked back out and realized that she had, in fact, disregarded it. It was coming down in waves, going from thick blankets to scattered flakes in seconds.

“Oh,” She noted, looking a bit off, “I didn’t.” She looked down at herself for a second, taking in the fact that she had dressed lightly despite the colder morning they had had. She distinctly remembered looking in the mirror and thinking that the jeans and short-sleeve t-shirt would get her through the day, and now regretted her decision. Karkat seemed to notice her dismay, and took a hand off her shoulder, moving to take off his jacket.

“Here --” He said, making Nepeta leave her bubble of thought and look at him. “Take my jacket. It’s cold outside.”

He slipped it off and gestured for her to take it. She looked at him for a second, before grabbing it and holding it herself.

“You sure you don’t need it?” Nepeta asked, glancing over his (albeit warm-looking) gray sweater, and he shook his head.

“No, I’m fine. You should take it,” He told her, and she smiled up at him. She quickly shrugged it on, grinning and turning for him to look. Her hands were barely visible, and the jacket went down to her thighs.

“How do I look?” She asked him, her arms stretched wide, and Karkat gave her an approving thumbs-up. She returned a big smile, and went to open the door.


	13. "Sorry I'm late."

“Sorry I’m late!”

Nepeta stumbled in, her hair windswept and her raincoat dripping wet. She rubbed her boots on the welcome mat and collapsed her umbrella, dropping it in the bin next to the door. Karkat gave her a quizzical look, while Eridan just seemed to seethe at the smile Nepeta gave the two.

“You were supposed to be here _ten minutes ago_ ,” He glared, crossing his arms and looking cross. “What _happened_?”

“Is the appearance not enough?” Nepeta joked, pointing at her face and clothes. “I don’t know if you noticed, but, it, uh, rained on me!”

“No _shit_.” Eridan rolled his eyes, apparently unsatisfied with the answer, and looked away from her. Nepeta pursed her lips, and Karkat, a bit put off, jabbed his elbow into Eridan’s side. He yelped, jumping backwards and clutched at his poor chest, looking (and probably feeling) betrayed.

“Chill the _fuck_ out,” Karkat hissed, scowling at Eridan, who frowned in response. He turned to Nepeta, who had watched the encounter with her green eyes wide. “It’s fine. We were waiting for everybody to show up, anyway, it’s not a big fucking deal.”

“Oh!” She looked a little surprised. “That’s -- That’s nice of you guys!”

“We didn’t want to start without you,” Karkat told her, and Eridan gave him a look that seemed to say, ‘ _What the fuck are you talking about, you douche, you complete ass_ ,’ or, at least, that’s how Karkat took it. “We all know how much you wanted to see the movie.”

“Really?” Nepeta asked, smiling at him. “I didn’t think anyone knew, or -- or cared!”

“Yeah, well, _I_ knew, so,” Karkat answered and returned a very small, very vague smile, and Eridan gave him another look that clearly said, ‘ _Oh, I get it now, you’re doing this for brownie points, fuck you_ ,’ but Nepeta didn’t seem to notice.

“That’s so nice of you!” She walked forward and patted his arm, looking pleased. “Thank you!”

“No problem,” He told her, and Nepeta gave him one last smile before walking off, heading towards the group in the room behind them. He turned and watched her leave, then seemed to notice Eridan’s shit-eating grin stationed beside him. Karkat glared silently, and Eridan moved to whisper into his ear.

“ _You pining motherfu--_ ”

“Shut your fucking mouth.”

Eridan left it open a second longer.

“-- _fucker_. You pining. _Motherfucker_.”

“I hate you. I hate you so much.”


	14. “Can I have this dance?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i imagine this song plays, because i swear to fuck it plays at every dance i go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n_CU3yt31o

It was a long night.

An empty diner stared the two of them down, tempting them with the neon sign that read, “ _Open 24/7_ ,” and the empty parking lot in the space behind it. The lights were on, bright and hurtful to their eyes in the dim recesses of the night, and they parked the car next to the door, taking every liberty they could. The door had a bell that rung when they opened it, and only one waitress was on duty, who jumped when it did so. After a moment her face returned to normal, and she gave them a nod, gesturing for them to take any seat they found.

Naturally, the diner was empty too. Two in the morning, and you could guarantee a diner off in the middle of nowhere-ville would look like an empty seventies hellscape. The two, exhausted, sat in a booth across from each other, and Nepeta smacked her head into the table, ignoring the bit of greasiness she could feel. Karkat slouched across from her, and she could almost hear his eyes drooping,

The waitress came by, and Karkat said something to her. He might have ordered, but Nepeta wasn’t really listening, or caring, at that moment, more concerned with the cramp in her neck and the stiffness she could feel erupting all over her body. She had ignored both in the car (driving did that to you) but now that she was paying full attention, it began to wear on her more than she was bound to admit.

Minutes passed and Karkat tapped her arm, and when she raised her head she saw a very tall milkshake sitting beside her, and a similar one in front of Karkat. Nepeta yawned and sat back in the booth, rubbing her face and slowly moving the shake so she could drink it without any more effort on her part. It was a little pathetic, maybe, but she couldn’t see the waitress and Karkat had learned not to care.

It took the two a few minutes, and a couple of country songs over the diner’s stereo, to finish their drinks and feel slightly more awake. Nepeta hated the idea of getting back in the car, with the subtle vibrations and the bright lights of the very few other cars on the road; she much preferred the quiet and oddly peculiar feel of the diner, with the slight chill and the hum of a flickering light. Karkat would want to drive, again, maybe because he thought she was too tired or maybe he had some stupid idea of being a good boyfriend.

She felt the cold of the milkshake slipping away from her, and she felt drowsy again in the cold diner. Her eyes fluttered and Nepeta knew that if they didn’t leave in the next two minutes, she’d be drooling on the table. Karkat noticed, like he always did, and tapped her arm a little. Nepeta looked at him, and he pointed up at the ceiling.

Some song, one of those popular ones that had been all over the radio a few years ago, had just come on. Nepeta remembered the tune, enough so that she could probably lipsync the chorus and not look too stupid. She looked back at him, but he was moving out of the booth now, standing up, and she gave him a tired look. He smiled at her, vaguely, and held out his hand. Nepeta wondered if he meant for her to take it.

She did, not because she wanted to, but moreso because she wanted to know what he was doing.

Karkat pulled her out of the booth, helping her stand and she watched him carefully, trying to guess his next move, and she guessed correctly. He looked down at the floor, smiling as if this were going to sound stupid, then back up at her, holding her hand still.

He asked, “Can I have this dance?” and Nepeta smiled.

She let him lead.


	15. “I made your favourite.”

“You made _what_?”

“Your favorite!” Nepeta said, patting his arm and grinning. “I know you had a terrible day --”

“I _always_ have a terrible day --” Karkat started, but she was having none of it.

“-- So I figured it would be a fun thing to do, to cheer you up!” She dragged his arm a little, leading him towards the kitchen as she added, “Jane showed me how, so it’s not like I made it by myself, but . . .”

She trailed off as they went inside, and he could clearly see the pan with tinfoil covering the top. Karkat glanced at her, not being able to discern what was under it; He didn’t exactly have a favorite food, so it was anybody’s guess as to what Nepeta had actually made. She let go of his arm and walked over to it, gesturing for him to watch as she began to carefully unfurl the tinfoil.

“I think you’ll be _really_ impressed,” She noted, smiling to herself and hyping him up, “Jane and I had to go _all_ over town to find the right stuff for it, and it took us twenty minutes to find _nutmeg_.”

“ _Nutmeg_?” What did he like that had _nutmeg_ in it?

“ _Ridiculous_ , I _know_!” She exclaimed, stopping and looking back at him. “It was so weird, it was like nobody had it! We were gonna give up and just borrow some from somewhere, but then it turned out that the gas station on the corner had it!”

“Huh,” He said, looking at her. Nepeta smiled then looked back down at the pan.

“Okay, anyway --” She picked up the corners of the tinfoil again and, instead of carefully unfurling it, just ripped it right off, and revealed the beauty underneath.

It was a pumpkin pie.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking --” Nepeta put her hands on her waist and made a bit of a scowl, obviously imitating Karkat. “-- ‘ _Nepeta, this isn’t my favorite food!_ ’ -- And I completely understand that, but! Jane said everybody’s default favorite food is pumpkin pie, and that nobody, ever, has ever made a bad pumpkin pie, _ever_! So, I --”

“No, no, you were right,” Karkat quickly interrupted, moving over to her. Nepeta looked confused, a finger frozen in the air.

“I was?”

“Yeah, I love this stuff,” He said, nodding in such a way that Nepeta stared at him odd. “I didn’t know you knew that.”

“Oh --” Nepeta was taken aback a bit, but she quickly adjusted, and stood confidently. “Yeah! I did know that, somewhere in the back of my mind! Absolutely!”

Karkat smiled at her; It was not, in fact, his favorite. But in that moment, it may as well have been.


	16. “It’s okay.  I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

A particularly bad dream.

It wasn’t a nightmare -- Those included demons, or bleeding, or wailing noises and banging windows -- but a dream. Someone yelled and things started to melt, colors blending and chaos ensuing over rich storylines. He remembered these dreams; they happened every once in awhile, and he could retell every moment and every sound until a few hours passed and he only remembered a vague feeling.

Curtains drawn and heart pounding, he sat up in his bed and felt a shiver run up his spine. What had suddenly woke him, he didn’t know. He knew he was awake, and he could still see a vivid splash of bright pink in his peripheral vision. He shook his head and rubbed his face, a new ache appearing in his back as lightning cracked outside.

He heard a knock.

A glance at his clock told him it was past midnight, and he was paranoid for a second. Who knocked at this hour? His apartment was on the opposite side of town, away from where all his friends lived; It wouldn’t be any of them, unless they were desperate, or drunk. And if it was a neighbor, he didn’t want to know what they wanted at two in the morning. He had found the lucky apartment building with only one (One!) person there who smoked weed, and while they had talked a few times, the person wasn’t known for walking around the complex in a haze.

He got up out of his bed at the next knock, yelling a short and drowsy, “I’m coming,” as he stumbled to his bedroom door. He opened it and gazed out, hearing thunder roll across the sky as he peered through the room, just to make sure he wouldn’t be murdered by a ghost in the middle of the night. His paranoia ceased and he straightened up, scratching his head and moving towards the front door, seeing the thin strand of light underneath it, and the two small shadows blocking it. He bended a bit to look through the peephole, frowning when he saw the figure outside, and, with narrowed eyes, he opened the door to greet them.

“Nepeta.”

She stood there, looking small and tired and a little scared. She relaxed when the door opened, and sighed, grabbing at the slightly damp jacket she wore.

“Hey,” She said, a little above a whisper. “Can I come in?”

He struggled between asking a question and being annoyed for a second, before settling on grim acceptance. “Sure.” He stepped to the side, letting her walk into the dark room. He hadn’t bothered turning the lights on.

She entered and walked into his small living space, sort of standing in the middle with her hands still holding tightly onto her jacket. Karkat closed the door behind her, and turned on a very small lamp sitting beside the door, and gave the room a soft glow of warm light. He stared at her, and she stared back, looking awkward.

“So,” He said simply, putting his arms at his side. “What the fuck gives?”

“Sorry,” Nepeta started, again quiet, and looking away from him, “I know it’s late.”

“It’s okay. Couldn’t sleep anyway.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Why are you here?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

He took a moment.

“ . . . Really expect me to believe that,” He deadpanned, and she gave him a look.

“The thunder and the -- the lightning, it all woke me up,” Nepeta told him, “I -- I didn’t know what else to do, so. I came here.”

“All the way across town,” Karkat noted, “In the rain. The subway is a block away from my house, _Nepeta_ \--”

“I know that!” She spoke up, finally breaking away from the quiet tone she had set. “I walked through it! And I didn’t say that I was at home!” Karkat was confused, for a second.

“ . . . But you said you woke up --”

“Yeah!” She said, her face red. “I did!” She swallowed, and looked away from him.

“You’re acting weird, again, _Nepeta_ \--” Karkat shook his head, collecting a thought. “--You did this last week, too, look, I don’t ask much --”

“I’m sorry --”

“-- I would just like to know, like, what’s going on with you,” Karkat noted, “What’s up. What’s happening in Nepeta-land, why are you showing up at my place when, _clearly_ , Equius lives much closer to you.”

“He wouldn’t understand --”

“And I don’t either!” Karkat said, frustrated. “Look, I know you’re _weird_ , and you do _weird_ _stuff_ sometimes, but I’m not sure if I’m the one you really should be coming to at two in the fucking morning, just so we could both agree that neither of us can sleep.”

“I’m sorry,” She said again, “I can just leave if you want.”

“No, that’s not what I want --” Karkat took a slight moment to himself, to realize how that sounded out loud, then continued, “-- I just want to know what you’re doing here, so we can both be on the same page.” Nepeta nodded, looking down at the ground for a moment before saying anything.

“Can I -- Can I stay the night?” She asked softly, and looking at him. “I -- I don’t really want to go back outside.”

Karkat figured that wasn’t the only reason, but after a brief moment of fake contemplation, he nodded. “Yeah,” He said, watching the ground, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

She gave him a brief smile.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” He said, still watching the ground while a feeling of ‘Screw it’ came over him. “Actually, you know --” He looked at her, squinting a little, “--Do you wanna, maybe, watch tv or something, since neither of us are apparently going to get any sleep tonight?”

She looked surprised for a second. “Oh,” She said, a bit taken aback. “S-Sure. That’d be great. I’d -- I’d really like that.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Uh,” He scratched the back of his neck, looking up at the ceiling, “Remotes. On the couch. I’ll get a blanket.”

“Sure, sure.”

He nodded again, and felt awkward. A feeling that would persist, he was sure.


	17. “Watch your step.”

“ _Equius_! You’re going too _fast_!”

Nepeta yelled up to the big, burly guy standing at the very top of the heavily forested hill, glaring up at him with a pout on her face. “One of us is gonna end up breaking our legs at pace you’re going!”

“I’m sorry,” Equius yelled back, but it was faint. “If you had said something sooner I would’ve stopped. I apologize.” Nepeta opened her mouth to yell something more, but Karkat put a hand on her shoulder in the universal sign of _drop it_. He looked back up at Equius instead.

“Where’d the fucking spider go, anyway? Can you see her from up there?”

“No, I can not,” Equius said and looked back away, scratching his head. “She’s disappeared, I don’t believe we’ll find her if she doesn’t want us to.”

“Well that’s peachy,” Karkat muttered, rolling his eyes. He added, louder, “Can you just try to fucking find her?”

“I do not take orders from --”

“Equius can you _please_ try and find Vriska, for _me_?” Nepeta asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes. They could both see Equius’s slight nod from where they were standing.

“Absolutely.” He said, and was off.

Karkat turned to her.

“What the fuck changed?” He asked, a bit pissed. “I said the same exact --”

“Yeah, but, Equius likes me,” Nepeta told him, grinning, “He doesn’t like you!”

“He doesn’t like _anybody_!” Karkat argued, and she nodded.

“But me,” Nepeta amended. His arms hung to his sides.

“Well, I just can’t fucking argue with that logic, can I?”

“No, you can not!” Nepeta gave him a bright smile, and, oddly, reached up and booped his nose. “And watch your step. You’re foot is an inch away from poison ivy.”

“ _Fuck_ \--!”

“I’m _joking_!”


	18. “Here, drink this.  You’ll feel better.”

“Karkat, you can’t hide and vomit in the bathroom.”

Terezi knocked again, Gamzee and Nepeta listening intently.

“You’re gonna fuck up my sink, man!” Terezi, a little angrier, knocked on the door with her fist this time, and the other two shared a look. “Get out of there with your gross ass hangover!”

There was no answer.

“Crabby, I’m gonna fucking strangle you!” Terezi banged on the door several times, probably causing a dent. “Get out of there this fucking instant, asshole! I’ll call your dad on you!”

No answer, still.

“I’ll call your _brother_ \--”

“You wouldn’t _dare_!”

Finally, an answer came through, and Nepeta and Gamzee breathed a sigh of relief. Terezi, however, did not. Her sigh came through irritated, and pissed.

“Don’t think I wouldn’t do it!”

“You don’t have his number!”

“Yeah, but _Nepeta_ does!” Terezi turned, staring at her with bright, blind eyes. “Don’t you!”

“I -- I do,” Nepeta squeaked, shrinking back a little.

“Don’t fucking give her _anything_ , Nepeta!” The voice called out, and Terezi stared her down.

“Give it to me. I’m gonna call him.”

“Please don’t.” Nepeta looked at Gamzee, who shrugged back at her helplessly.

“Nepeta! Don’t you fucking dare!” The voice yelled again, and Terezi banged on the door.

“Let her make her own decisions, crabass!” Terezi, hand still on the door, turned her head to look at her. “Nepeta! _Number_! Now!”

“H-How about, y’know, instead --” Gamzee started, but Terezi shut him up.

“Don’t get involved, _you_ are the instigator! You brought the beer!” Terezi yelled, turning back to the door. “I’m gonna smash down this fucking door!”

“How about! We get him! Some water!” Nepeta said, at a very loud, very high pitched tone. “That helps hangovers, right! Gamzee go get some ice water --”

“But--”

“ _Please it would mean so much to me_!” Nepeta patted his arm, now competing in a stare off with Terezi, who was halfway through licking the door. Gamzee saw this, then started backing away.

“Yeah, yeah, sure.”

Once he left, Terezi straightened up and approached Nepeta slowly, grabbing her around the waist and grinning wickedly.

“A solid fucking idea!” She hissed, trying her best to be quiet. “Get him to open the door for you, and then I’ll slam it open and maul him, you are so _smart_!”

“I -- I try!”

Terezi patted her back, enjoying the moment until Gamzee came back with the glass of ice water. It had a lemon in it.

“You put a lemon in it?” Nepeta asked.

“I thought it would help,” Gamzee said.

“A nice touch,” Terezi noted, approving. “Alright, so --”

“Let me, okay, let me do this,” Nepeta said, taking the ice water and approaching the door. “Karkat?”

“That’s me.” The voice said.

“Okay, um -- Terezi -- she’s gone, so --”

“That’s bullshit, I heard her two fucking seconds ago.”

“Okay so maybe she’s not gone!” Nepeta said, “But Gamzee has restrained her --”

She looked back to the two, and gave Gamzee a silent message. He nodded, hopefully in understanding, and tapped Terezi’s arm, gesturing to the door. She made an o with her mouth, then yelled, “I’m gonna fucking murder you when that door opens, crabby!”

“-- As -- As you could hear, right there, um, but -- but we got you -- we got you ice water. Because -- Because it helps with hangovers,” Nepeta looked for the right words for a moment. “R-Really, you should drink this, you’ll feel better!”

“The only better he’ll feel is when my fist connects with his _lying face_!” Terezi shrieked, and Nepeta glanced at Gamzee. He gave her a thumbs-up, ready.

“This sounds like a big fucking trap, gonna be totally honest here.”

“Oh it is, _asshole_!” Terezi yelled, reverse-psychology-ing the fuck out of the situation. “The plan’s to throw the fucking water in your face before I _murder_ you!”

Karkat took a second, behind the door.

“ . . . You said Gamzee had her, right.”

“Yes!” Nepeta said, smiling. “Yeah, she’s -- she’s tied up, right now.”

“I’m gonna _murder_ you all!” Terezi added, for dramatic purposes.

He took another moment.

“Okay, I’m gonna open the fucking door, not because I trust Terezi is restrained --” He paused, then added, “But because I’m gonna put my fucking trust in you, Nepeta, not to fuck me over like this.”

“I promise this is legit,” Nepeta quickly said, then turned and gave a big dramatic wink at Terezi who dramatically winked back. Gamzee, not at all dramatically, gave Nepeta a very lazy wink that Terezi could not see.

There was a slight pause, and then a slight click.

And then three things happened very suddenly.

The door opened.

Terezi rocketed forward.

And Gamzee locked his hand onto her arm.

A very loud gasp erupted from Terezi, and then a shriek.

“ ** _BETRAYED_** \--”

Nepeta slammed the ice water into Karkat’s hands, not taking a second to look at him before she turned and absconded, running as fast as she could away from the scene. She heard a great laugh, and a door slam, and Terezi scream something awful.


	19. “Can I hold your hand?”

Karkat fumbled with the feeling he was experiencing at the moment; It wasn’t like he was unfamiliar, but the feeling felt new, and real, and somehow worse than ever before. It was strengthened by the cold snow the two were trudging through, and, even more, by how stupidly cute she looked when she was freezing cold.

“I didn’t know it got this cold up here,” Nepeta noted, smiling slightly at him and hugging her arms. “I thought it got to sixty degrees and just stopped!”

“It’s -- It’s not usually this cold,” He stumbled out the words, trying to cope with the emotion. “It’s just worse because _you’re_ here, it had to make an _effort_.”

“Oh, it’s trying to show off for me!” Nepeta poked his arm. “And here I thought climate change was involved!”

“I --” Karkat mumbled, but trailed off, not saying anything more. Nepeta didn’t notice (Or maybe she didn’t care) and looked back down at her boots, stomping through the two feet of snow. She seemed content, and Karkat probably looked like he was about to freeze to death with how red his face felt. His hormones hadn’t picked a better time, at least with the cold he had an excuse.

“You okay, Karkat?” Nepeta asked, peeking a look at his face. He looked away. “You seem kind of red, are you --”

“I’m fine.” He rubbed his arm. “Just cold.”

“Oh,” Nepeta said.

She waited a moment.

“Can I hold your hand?”

Karkat’s head whipped around to face hers, and she was staring at him with those big, innocent eyes, as if she hadn’t just asked the most terrible question he had ever heard.

“What?”

“Well I mean if you’re cold --”

“No, fuck, I mean --” Karkat took a breath. “I mean -- I just, fuck, like --”

“Karkat you’re not having a stroke are you?” Nepeta asked, lightly touching his arm and looking concerned.

“No, I’m fine!” He said, and turned his face away again, for it had gotten seven shades brighter. If it kept on like this, he’d be at the front of Santa’s sleigh in a week. “I’m fine! Everything’s good!”

“Okay, just being sure!” Nepeta’s hand left his arm, and she looked back down at the ground. There was silence again.

She was . . . She was trying to kill him. This fucking week was going to torture him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //flashbacks to six shots


	20. “You can borrow mine.”

Karkat leaned over, trying to eavesdrop on what she was saying in her room. The door was open, he could just walk by, but this seemed more appropriate; and probably creepier, the more he thought about it. He cut himself some slack, though -- He would rather die than openly admit to himself that he was desperately in love, and if this is how it was going to be for the week, then so fucking be it.

“Unbelievable!” He heard her say to herself. “I didn’t pack one?”

Shuffling was heard, and another wave of _hey you shouldn’t be doing this_ came across his mind.

“No, that’s impossible! I was so sure!” Something was thrown on the ground. “It’s white, it has little kitten ears on the hood! This can’t be!”

Kitten ears on the hood? What, had she brought a car?

“God, I don’t pray often, but _please_ \--” She heard her unzip a zipper. “-- Let me find my jacket in the outside pocket. I’ll go back to church if you do.”

A moment passed, then a groan.

“No . . . “ Nepeta bemoaned, defeated. “Judas had the right idea. This seriously _sucks_.”

A thought popped into Karkat’s head, one that made him pass by her door and to the coat rack by the kitchen. He grabbed one of the jackets and returned to hear her still sighing about the terrible disaster that had befallen her. He knocked on her open door, calling her attention to him. She turned to look, smiling slightly when she saw him.

“Oh, hey, Karkat!” She said, standing up from the bed. “What’s up?”

“I heard you, uh -- bemoaning your current situation,” Karkat noted, and Nepeta laughed a little, looking down at her feet.

“I’m surprised you were the only one!” She told him, “I thought somebody else in the house would’ve noticed at this point.”

“Well, uh, I did,” He said, awkwardly. Nepeta smiled at him, and a moment passed where neither of the talked, just waited for the other one to say something. Karkat was the one to break the silence, adding, “Um, but -- You -- You can borrow mine, if you want.” He gestured the jacket in his hands, and Nepeta stared at it curiously.

“Oh!” Nepeta moved over to him to take a closer look. “Won’t it be too big?”

“It’s not that bad,” Karkat told her, “It’ll just be extra warmth, anyway.” Nepeta took the jacket from him, opening it up and staring at it for a moment. After she did, she pulled it down where he could see her face again, and she gave him a large grin.

“It’ll be perfect!” Nepeta exclaimed, “Thank you! It’s exactly what I needed!”

He nodded, not looking at her.

“Not a problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't know if you guys can tell, but apparantly jackets and being cold are my biggest fucking kinks
> 
> ANYWAY, i've been trying to do at least one prompt a night! The last three i hammered out like twenty minutes ago, because i really wanted to post another update. If they seem lesser in quality, don't worry, that's how all my works are lmfao
> 
> Hopefully we'll see another update in ten days or so :p or maybe i'll just start posting one by one, but i think i like clumping them all together in one big update palooza. this is the part where dora asks the kids at home "what do you guys think?!" and then everyone responds and she says "me too!!" so just imagine im dora and im asking you guys that question, lmk if youd prefer an update every time i finish a prompt, or in these big update bags !


	21. “You might like this.”

Nepeta swung around, smiling slightly and looking expectantly at Karkat.

“Well?” She asked impatiently, and Karkat stared at her.

“ _Well_ what?” He asked back, and when he was met with a pout, he shook his head. “I’m _joking_! That was a joke!”

“ _Mhhm_.” Nepeta gave him a look that stared through Karkat’s very soul. “I’m watching you, _Vantas_.”

“I know that,” Karkat told her, “So is that old witch who’s probably wondering why I’m in the women’s dressing room, so if you could --”

“What do you think?” Nepeta cut in, spinning around in the olive green polka-dot dress. “I thought you might like it!” Karkat gave her an approving glance before nodding, and she smiled back at him.

“I do,” He noted, “It’s very nice, the colors suit you and the dots will match your shoes, at least. And it’s not fucking _knit_ , or some dumb shit like that. So that’s good.”

“Knit? What’s that?” Nepeta asked him with a quizzical look.

“It’s a type of fabric, it’s super stretchy and a _bitch_ to work with --”

“Wait, nevermind, I don’t wanna know,” Nepeta said, and she gave him another smile. “Kanaya can tell me the same exact thing.”


	22. “It’s not heavy.  I’m stronger than I look.”

“Well, that certainly _was_ a shot.”

Dirk adjusted his glasses as Karkat stared in disbelief, Nepeta smiling smugly.

“How. The _fuck_ . . . “ Karkat muttered, watching the lifeless deer, bleeding out in the middle of the clearing. Nepeta glanced at him.

“I _told_ you, I took classes when I was fifteen! It’s not that hard!” Nepeta told him, patting his arm. “We’ve been sitting around all day waiting, anyway.”

“A fun bonding experience for all of us, I’m sure,” Dirk noted, looking at Karkat, who had, at some point in the afternoon, said something along the lines of, ‘This is such bullshit, I’m bored, blah blah.’

“Yeah. Sure was,” Karkat responded, looking at Dirk, who had, at some point in the afternoon, said something along the lines of, ‘Hey, how do mermaids fuck?’

“Are we gonna stop being weird now?” Nepeta asked, looking between the two of them, who had, at some point in the afternoon, argued about something along the lines of, ‘Mermaids likely have intercourse through sound waves.’ The two nodded, and she turned and stomped through the grass, heading towards the dead thing she had killed.

“Do you need help?” Karkat asked, having hung back with Dirk.

“It’s not heavy,” She yelled back, waving, ”I’m stronger than I look!”


	23. “I’ll wait.”

“Oh, crap!”

Nepeta pulled her pocket out of her pocket, showing off the fact that it was empty to Karkat.

“I forgot the keys,” Nepeta told him, sounding a bit defeated. “I was so excited about the new car, I guess I got caught up and left them in the apartment.” She shook her head.

“It’s fine,” Karkat said, “It’s not a big deal.”

“Yeah, it is!” Nepeta exclaimed. “I wanna show you all my cupholders! It has ten!”

“That does sound very cool,” He noted, pursing his lips. Nepeta looked conflicted for a moment, before turning back to him with wide eyes.

“Do you . . . Do you mind if I go back upstairs and get them? She asked, her voice going high as it always did when she asked him to do anything. “I won’t take long!” Karkat let out a small laugh.

“It’s fine,” He said, smiling slightly at her. “I’ll wait. Go get ‘em and you can show me all of your little cupholders, if it’s that important I’m sure it’s the bees-fucking-knees.”

“Great!” Nepeta grinned and patted his arm. “I’ll be, like, two seconds!”

“I’ll be counting.”


	24. “Just because.”

“You seriously expect me to say yes to this?” Karkat asked her, staring up at the large, imposing thing that stood between him and the rest of the day. “I’m not getting on that _thing_.”

“Oh, come on!” Nepeta pouted, “It’s so much fun, it gives us a view of the whole city skyline! _Please_ , let’s do it!”

“I -- I will not --”

“ _Please_ ,” Nepeta insisted, tugging at his arm in an effort to drag him towards it. “I _promise_ we’ll do something you wanna do next! But just this _one thing_ first! Come on, it’s not gonna be that bad!”

“Nepeta --”

“And I’ll buy you something! A t-shirt, or -- or a keychain, or whatever!” She pleaded, jumping up and down the tiniest bit in an effort to persuade him. “And I’ll throw in a hug if I have to! And -- I don’t know, I’ll win you one of those fair things, like a goldfish in a bag!”

“Please --”

“And when we get back home, we can put a lava lamp in our bedroom! That’s something cool that you wanted, right? We’ll do that!” Nepeta sided up against him, holding onto his arm. “But _please_ let’s just do this one thing first _please please_ _please_ \--”

“Hey!” Karkat exclaimed, and she moved her attention towards him.

“Yeah?” Nepeta asked, staring at him.

“Sure.”

“Sure as in --”

“Sure as in _I’ll do it_ \--”

“ _Really_?!” Nepeta squealed, grinning up at him and grabbing his arms. “You’ll go on the ferris wheel with me?!”

“ _Yes_ , I --”

Nepeta’s little shout of excitement, followed by a very squeezy hug, cut off his words and air supply for a hot minute. When she let go she patted his arms excitedly, not letting him speak as she dragged him towards the line.

“What made you change your mind?” She asked, smiling up at him as they moved. “Was it the hug? Or the goldfish? I bet it was the --”

“No.”

“No?” Nepeta stopped, turning around and looking at him oddly. “Then . . . Then what was it?”

“None of that,” He told her, and she gave him a confused stare.

“Then why’d you say yes?” She asked, perplexed, and Karkat shrugged.

“Just because.”

Nepeta watched him for a moment, waiting for more of an answer.

“Just because _what_?” She questioned when the answer didn’t come. Karkat smiled at her.

“Just because you’re so annoyingly _sweet_.”


	25. “Look both ways.”

“It’s a _sweater_!”

“It’s a _coat_.”

“Karkat!” Nepeta turned, stopping completely on the sidewalk. “What is it made of?”

“Wool,” He answered, deadpanning. Nepeta made a gesture, as if to say see! But Karkat only shook his head, saying, “It’s not a sweater. If it was a sweater it wouldn’t have a _zipper_ , Nep.”

“Do you want me to call Kanaya on this?” Nepeta asked him, “ ‘Cause she would know!”

“No, no, don’t,” Karkat told her quickly. “She doesn’t need to get involved.”

Nepeta stared at him, her eyes furrowing into a glare, and she turned and started walking again, without Karkat. He looked out after her.

“Are you mad at me about the fact that this is a coat?” He yelled as she walked off. “Because it’s still a coat!”

“You got one part right!” She shouted over her shoulder, rolling her eyes and not focusing on the direction she was going.

“Hey, Nep --”

“Not listening!”

“Nep --”

“Can’t make me --”

“ _Watch the road!_ ”

Nepeta stopped suddenly, hands in the air by instinct, and found herself a foot away from a car that was crossing without her knowledge. She heard them beep before flying off down the road, and Karkat staggered up behind her.

“Are you okay?” He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. Nepeta shot him a glare, still not impressed, and shook off his hand.

“I’m _fine_.” She stalked across the road as the light turned green, leaving Karkat standing aimlessly behind her.

“ _Look both ways next time_?” He asked, hopelessly, as he watched his girlfriend walk away. Maybe the whole wool coat thing hadn’t been worth it.


	26. “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to.”

“Feferi, hand me the bucket of confetti!”

Nepeta lent down her hand from the top of the ladder, waving so Feferi could prop it up to her. She did so, standing on tiptoes to be able to reach her, and handed it off to Nepeta.

“So, remind me how this is all going to work?” She asked, squinting up at her with an inquisitive look on her face. Nepeta smiled and hooked the confetti bucket onto the lever.

“When that buzzer is pushed --” She pointed at a big red button sitting on the floor next to the ladder. “ -- The lever will drop, and the confetti bucket will tip over and pour it’s contents all over the floor. It’s hooked up to do that all over the gym, but that’s only what Equius told me, I’m not all too sure.”

“And, remind me --” Feferi batted her eyelashes at Nepeta sweetly, smiling. “Is Equius _still_ off the market?”

Nepeta gave her a look.

“You asked me that ten minutes ago,” She said, squinting. “I’m starting to think you’ve got another motive.”

“What?” Feferi asked, and started to giggle. “No! I’m just curious if anything’s changed, or _will change_ , before homecoming! Nothing more, I’m one of his friends, I get to know this sort of stuff!”

“ _Mhmm_ ,” Nepeta said, pursing her lips. “For _your_ information, he _is_. Aradia and him broke up a week or two ago, like I _said_.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Feferi nodded, “And is there _any_ chance, _possibly_ , of them ever getting back --”

“No,” Nepeta said, “Aradia sunk that ship. With, like, a nuke. Equius is still kinda down about it.” She gave her a knowing look. “So I wouldn’t, like, try, if that’s what you’re --”

“I’m just _wondering_!” She interrupted, grinning. “Just curious! _But_ , what about you and --”

“ _No_!” Nepeta turned on the ladder, looking down at her. “Not happening! Don’t ask!”

“Why not!” Feferi exclaimed, her mouth agape. “You’ve been pining for, like, all of high school, Nepeta, it’s time to make a _move_. Get in with him! He’s not dating anybody!”

“Not _yet_ ,” Nepeta said, and put a piece of streamer in her mouth to hold, so her next words were slightly muffled. “He wants to get back with Terezi again --”

“Pff, who cares!” Feferi practically yelled in the empty gym. “She doesn’t want that! Right?”

“I dunno,” Nepeta took the streamer out of her mouth, “This would be, like, the seventh time they got back together. It’s not even been three months, they broke up at the beginning of the school year, right?”

“Right!” Feferi nodded. “Which means the two of them have had three months to forget about each other and move on! Get with the times, Nepeta, ask him to homecoming!”

“Not happening,” Nepeta told her again. “It’d probably not even be as good as I’ve imagined it’s --”

“Hey, is that you guys?”

Nepeta nearly fell off the ladder, grabbing onto it with a gasp as the gym doors opened, and she turned to see Karkat walking towards them, hands in his pockets. She stared at him, her mouth open, and Feferi jiggled the ladder to get her out of her trance.

“It’s us! What’s up, fellow senior?” Feferi asked, grinning ear to ear as he approached. Nepeta swallowed anxiously, still up on the ladder.

“I was actually looking for you, Nepeta,” Karkat said, stopping beside the ladder and pointing up at her. “Equius told me you two would be in here, what’re you guys even doing?”

“Setting up for homecoming!” Feferi eased, giving him a confident smile. “Nobody else wants to do it -- well, I mean, they do, but -- But nobody can do it as good as we can. So we’re doing it!”

“That’s cool,” Karkat noted, giving her a slight smile. “I see the colors are --”

“Green and yellow, as _always_ ,” Feferi said with distaste. “School colors! Gotta _love_ ‘em, right, Nep?”

“Right,” Nepeta said, and didn’t say anymore.

“It’s still nice that you guys are doing this,” Karkat said, grabbing at a streamer that Nepeta had let hang loose. “Sacrificing your afternoons sounds kind of a shitty trade-off.”

“It is!” Feferi said, grinning again. “But I bet your after-school afternoons are pretty great now, aren’t they?”

“What do you mean?” He asked with a slight glare. Feferi shrugged.

“Y’know, you and Terezi always had to go out on little adventures together in the afternoons after school, remember? Those must’ve put a dent in your wallet!” Feferi said with a teasing vibe, adding, “I bet it’s a lot calmer now that she’s out of here!”

“Yeah, I mean, I guess you could say that,” Karkat noted awkwardly. “We don’t really hang out that much anymore, but it’s whatever. We’re both over it. Uh, actually, on that sort of subject, Nepeta --”

Nepeta’s face flushed as he looked up at her, but she only got to see him for a moment. She felt a sudden wobble, and her arms went out to try and catch herself, but she failed. It wobbled precariously for a moment before her foot slipped, and she couldn’t do anything.

The ladder started toppling over, a short shout coming out of her mouth as she fell straight off the ladder, diving down and heading for a broken back until --

Until she felt her body fall into a set of arms, and the ladder toppled over onto the other side, falling beside Feferi as Karkat stumbled slightly with Nepeta in his arms. He stepped forward and she knew he had stepped on something, because he exclaimed, “Woah!” and staggered backwards, and she heard a lever dropping.

Confetti cascaded over the two of them, falling gracefully on the scene laid so nicely in front of Feferi. Nepeta stared up at the confetti, then glanced at Karkat, who glanced at her back, and she didn’t know if he could tell her face was going stark red. She whipped her head at the sound of a camera snap, and saw Feferi standing there with her phone out and a big grin on her face.

“Hey, actually, I’ve gotta run!” Feferi said quickly, walking backwards before the other two could stop her. “I’ll see you guys later, _bye_!”

And she ran for the doors, the other two powerless to stop her.

Karkat started stammering an apology.

“I -- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to --”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Nepeta quickly told him as Karkat let her slide out of his arms. “I’m okay! You -- You prevented me from a broken neck, i-it’s fine!”

“Are you sure?” He asked, concerned.

“I’m sure!” She said, and lied.

He let out a sigh, brushing a hand through his confetti-ridden hair.

“Well, I mean, I guess this is as best a time to ask you as any.”

“Ask me what?” Nepeta asked, brushing confetti off of her. Karkat looked her over, then stepped forward and plucked a piece of confetti off of her hair. He tossed it on the ground, not looking at her, and asked --

“You wanna go to homecoming with me?”


	27. “Try some.”

“The brownies are done!”

Jane’s yelling came from the kitchen, and Nepeta looked over at Karkat. Vriska shot up from her own cushioned chair and screamed, “ _Outta my way, assholes!_ ” on her way there, pushing over Terezi and John in her mad-dash to the kitchen. John groaned and Terezi yelled something about how she would kill Vriska if she stole all the corner pieces.

“If you want some, you should hurry and go get it,” Nepeta noted to Karkat, giving him a knowing glance. Karkat flipped a page in a book, not reacting.

“I don’t like brownies.”

“You don’t like _brownies_?!” Someone (Vriska) shouted from the kitchen, and Nepeta’s eyes widened.

“I don’t!” Karkat yelled back, rolling his eyes.

“Why not?” Nepeta asked him.

“My dad makes them, and they always fucking _sucked_ , so,” Karkat told her, looking up over what he was reading. A quick glance told Nepeta it was a romance novel, with a werewolf on the cover.

“Well, Jane makes them different!”

“Jane makes them _better_!” Terezi yelled, and Nepeta nodded along.

“No, my experiences with brownies have been ruined, thanks,” Karkat said, and looked back at his book. Nepeta pursed her lips.

“Come on Karkat! Try some!” She urged, standing up and holding out her hand. “You’ll love it!”

“No --”

“Karkat get your _fucking ass_ in here before John does a magic trick and make them all _disa-fucking-ppear_!” Vriska screamed and with a new sense of urgency, Nepeta grabbed Karkat’s arm and started pulling, dragging him out of the chair.

“What are you _doing_ \--”

“I’m making you try Jane’s _delicious_ brownies, and you’re gonna _like it_!” Nepeta groaned, yanking Karkat towards the kitchen.

“I’m not going to like them!”

“You’re gonna _try_!”


	28. "Drive safely.”

“Karkat, I’m about to leave!”

Nepeta smiled as she heard a door open upstairs, and she stood listening at the stairs as somebody ran down the hall, turning and stomping down the stairs in his pajamas. Karkat stopped near the halfway point and leaned over the railing, far enough down to reach Nepeta’s hand, giving her a quick kiss.

“Drive safely,” He told her, straightening back up and banging his head into the ceiling, stupidly. Nepeta grinned and patted his hand on the railing.

“Don’t be stupid, _stupid_ ,” Nepeta said and gave him a little wave, making her way towards the door.

“Hey, I’m not the one who put their shirt on backwards!” Karkat pointed out, and Nepeta stopped in her tracks, looking down at it.

She had, in fact, done that.


	29. "Well, what do you want to do?”

“Well, what do you want to do?”

Nepeta looked over at Karkat, across the others sitting at the table with them.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Karkat, she’s on my side,” Roxy said, grinning and slinging an arm around her. “She totally wants to go on the teacups, let’s be real here!”

“Stop coercing her into your devil plans!” Jake said, loudly and pointedly, “Nepeta would like to go hunting for fossils alongside me and Aradia!”

“They’re not _real_ , Jake,” Roxy told him.

“They’re real _enough_!” Araida exclaimed, smiling.

“Come on, Nepeta, you’re our tiebreaker!” Roxy nudged her arm. “Me and Karkat are on for the teacups, Jake and Aradia wanna go fossiling, we’ve only got thirty minutes before the park closes! You gotta break the tie!”

“Um,” Nepeta said, awkwardly, and Jake shot forward to encourage her.

“When we dig up the fossils, the park lets us keep them!” Jake noted, and Aradia nodded quickly.

“They take our pictures on the teacups!” Roxy exclaimed, grinning. “We can spin them super fast and throw up afterwards, it’ll be so fun!” Karkat nodded, and Nepeta thought long and hard.

“Uh, I think --”

“If we find a bone they’ll give us twenty dollars!” Aradia told her in a last ditch effort.

“If we break our necks on the teacups they’ll probably give us a full refund!” Karkat told her as soon as Aradia shut her mouth. Nepeta shook her head.

“I -- I think. I think we should . . . “ Nepeta thought one last time. “I think we should go ride _The Avalanche_.”

“ _What_?!” Jake shouted, “But -- But the _fossils_!”

“She’s the tiebreaker, she broke the tie, didn’t she?” Karkat said, standing up. “Let’s get a fucking move on before everything closes.”

“But the _fossils_!”

“My back is gonna be thrown outta _shape_ after that ride,” Roxy noted, grinning. “But let’s _go_! It’s gonna be fun!” Nepeta smiled at her, standing up too, as Jake continued pouting. Aradia patted his back consolingly.

“But -- but the _fossils_ . . .”

“Another time, big guy.”


	30. “One more chapter.”

“Karkat -- Karkat it’s time to go to bed,” Nepeta groaned, flipping over in the bed and glaring at him. Karkat shook his head, nestling back up in bed.

“One more chapter, alright? It’s getting good!” He told her, adding, “I can turn on the reading light if it’s gonna bother you.”

“No, kat, I wanna _snuggle_ ,” Nepeta bemoaned sleepily, grabbing his arm and hugging it. “Stop reading romance novels, I’m _literally_ right here.”

“Just a little bit more, okay, Andre is gonna _propose_ to her!” Karkat said, trying to bargain.

“Karkat, you don’t need to read about somebody else’s love life, _I’m_ your love life,” Nepeta patted his arm, “Cuddle train is leaving nighty-night station, we are on our way to sleepytime junction, let’s _go_.”

“ _Fine_ ,” Karkat groaned, closing the book with a snap and putting it on the bedside table. He turned off the light and slipped under the covers. “But we are _not_ cuddling --”

“ _Too late_ ,” Nepeta yawned, holding tightly onto his arm. She smiled and cuddled up close to him. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> somebodys takin the train to sleepytiiime junction~~~  
> somebody is so tired he can barelyy functiooon~~~  
> so hes hoppin on that train to sleepytiime junction~~~  
> ~~~somebodys takin the traiiin to sleepytiiiiiime junction~~~~~
> 
> ANYWAY i been keepin up w/ that one a day promise, and actually wrote four tonight bc i got shot with DEPRESSION last night, so yAAAy, school started for me so i HOPE things wont slow down but they PROBABLY WON'T, but dont hold me to that


	31. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Karkat, you really shouldn’t head out there all alone!”

Nepeta pouted in his direction, hoping to make him reconsider. He only shook his head in response.

“It’s _fine_ , it was probably just a cat or some other weird animal that screeches at half past midnight,” Karkat told her, grabbing a coat off of the rack. “Don’t worry about me.”

“It’s my _job_ , Karkat!” She exclaimed. “Like, half my day is spent worrying! You should at _least_ take your phone and text me every fifteen seconds so I’m _positive_ that you’re not out there dying!”

“Fine, I’ll take my _phone_ ,” He groaned and picked it up off the counter, then pointed at her with it. “But I’m not texting you every fifteen seconds! I’ll text you if I die!”

“But --” Nepeta squinted at him. “-- You’ll be dead.”

“My corpse’ll figure it out.”


	32. “It looks good on you.”

“Nepeta? Nepeta, do you mind getting out of lala-land for two seconds?”

Karkat snapped his fingers a few times, and Nepeta shot out of her thoughts, staring over at Karkat. She gave him a smile, as if to apologize, and he stared at her for a second before shaking his head.

“Is it okay?” He asked, looking down at his outfit. Slacks and a button-down white shirt -- it seemed good enough. “Should I get a tie or something to match you --”

“No, no, it looks good on you!” Nepeta beamed, “We’ll look great together, it’ll be great!”

“Are you sure?” He asked, pulling at the waistline. “It feels a little big --”

“No, it’s fine! It’ll match with my dress, and even if it is big, we can just fix it, no problem!” Nepeta reassured him, “And if it’s actually really big when homecoming comes up, then we’ll get Kanaya and she can fix it in two seconds for us! She always carries sewing kits!”

“How do you know that?” He asked her, “You’ve only been friends with her since, like, two weeks ago.”

“Well, Karkat,” Nepeta started, “I _wouldn’t_ have known if she hadn’t pulled it out of her bra when Rose’s skirt seam split in the middle of math -”

“Okay, thanks, I’m good,” Karkat told her, and Nepeta smiled. “Didn’t need to know. Shouldn’t have asked.”


	33. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

“Nepeta, come _on_!” Vriska shouted, waving her down towards the line. “I’m not gonna save a spot for you forever!”

“I told you, I’m not getting on!” Nepeta yelled back, a good thirty feet away. “I don’t wanna pass out today, thank you!”

“ _Ugh_ ,” Vriska groaned, and turned to Karkat, standing beside her. “Go _get_ her to come over here! I want my picture with both of you as we fly down at two-hundred miles an hour!”

“Why don’t _you_ go get her? She’s not gonna get on,” Karkat told her, sporting a glare. “ _You_ can grab her if it’s that important.”

“She’s not gonna listen to _me_!” Vriska argued, pointing a finger towards her. “But you know what? She’ll listen to _you_.”

“What do you fucking mean, she’ll listen to me --”

“ _Don’t_ play coy with me, asshole!” Vriska shouted, then lowered her voice at the sight of a disapproving soccer mom and jabbed a finger in Karkat’s chest. “ _You’re_ the one she had a _huge fucking crush_ on in eighth grade, and we both fucking know crushes don’t ever go the fuck away, so go kiss her or whatever and make her move her ass to the line!”

“Are you _fucking_ \--”

“ _Go_!” Vriska grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face Nepeta, then pushed him forward. “I’m not taking no for a fucking answer!”

Karkat turned and gave her a glare, then looked back at Nepeta, who had gone back to watching the little pond beside the ride. A bunch of ducks were swimming around in it, and as he approached her, she looked up at him curiously, her sunglasses up on her hair. Her face went cold as she saw Vriska staring her down in the background, and she squinted at Karkat.

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna try to make me go over there,” Nepeta said, deadpan. “I told her a thousand times, I _hate_ that ride, I don’t --”

“No, I’m not, but --” He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, a little frustrated. “Nepeta, close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

She stared at him for a moment, looking from him to Vriska.

“What?” She asked, and he shook his head.

“I wanna do something, just -- trust me on this, alright, can you do that for me?” Karkat gave her the most heartfelt look he could, which wasn’t very good, but it was good enough as Nepeta watched him carefully.

“ . . . Okay, _sure_ ,” Nepeta said warily and closed her eyes. She stuck out her palms.

Very slowly and deliberately, he put out one of his hands and placed it in hers. As soon as he did, Nepeta’s eyes snapped open and she looked straight down, then right back at him.

“ _What_ \--”

“Let’s go --” Karkat held her hand a little more tightly and moved forward, dragging her along with him back towards the line. “-- Vriska wants her fucking picture --”

“No! No, do _not_ \--” Nepeta struggled slightly, but not too much, as they approached the line again, and as soon as they were back in it, Vriska slung an arm around her neck, grinning and hugging her tightly.

“Oh, I am so _glad_ you decided to come with us!” Vriska squealed, nearly picking her up off the ground as she secretly gave Karkat a thumbs-up. “We’re gonna have such fun, I can’t _wait_!”

Nepeta’s eyes locked with Karkat’s again, and she gave him a death-glare, and Karkat instinctively reeled backwards a bit.

This was going to bite his ass later.


	34. “That’s okay, I bought two.”

“. . . And I brought a slice of cake from my birthday last week!” Nepeta told them, grinning and holding out a battered plate with a slice on it. “I had it leftover, so I figured since you two couldn’t make it --”

“ _Score_ ,” Sollux immediately interrupted and dived upon the cake, snatching it out of her hands. “Thanks, you are always welcome back to apartment number _whatever the fuck_.”

“Dude, don’t be _fucking_ rude,” Karkat said and whapped him over the head as he dove out of the way, heading straight back to his room. He turned back to her with a glare. “He’s an asshole, sorry.”

“It’s okay!” Nepeta told him, patting his arm as her other hand dove back into her bag, bringing out a second slice on a better looking, bright green plate. “I brought two!”


	35. “After you.”

“I’m just saying, as the one and only member of the student council --”

“Here we go again --”

“ -- I believe we should just hang posters of myself all over school!” John told them, nodding along with himself. “Everyone would understand it to mean vote for me to continue my legacy as the one and only leader! It just makes sense!”

Nepeta smiled at him. “I think it’s a great idea! I can help you print them out, we have one of those big fancy printers at my house!”

“Thank you, Nepeta!” John gave her a big grin, bumping her shoulder. “At least somebody recognizes my abilities!” He shot a glare over his shoulder. “Unlike _some people_!”

Karkat shook his head and groaned, “You’re just a fucking _idiot_ , Egbert, that’s all.”

“ _What_?” John asked, turning around and staring at him, offended. “Are you calling me an idiot, and, _therefore_ \--” He pointed at Nepeta. “-- _Her_ an idiot for agreeing with me?”

“No,” Karkat said, glaring. “She’s just in with the wrong crowd: _You_.”

“I am truly upset, Karkat!” John told him, “Wounded! Hurt! Vexed!”

“Miffed,” Nepeta added.

“ _Miffed_!” John agreed. “That you would do something of such a _rude_ caliber!” Karkat rolled his eyes and started stepping ahead of them.

“Whatever, doesn’t negate the facts, egghead,” Karkat told him and opened the door. When John stepped up to enter, Karkat stuck out a hand, stopping him.

“Woah, what’re --”

“No, no, after _you_ , Nepeta.” Karkat gestured her to enter first, and Nepeta gave him a cute smile.

“Aw, thanks!” Nepeta said, popping inside. “That’s so kind of you!”

John gave him a pout.

“What did _I_ do?” John asked, frowning.

“You’re an idiot.”

“I can’t help that!”

“You can _try_.”


	36. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Karkat, I can’t.”

Nepeta stopped a few feet behind him, causing the rest of the people on the busy street to slide up along her, some bumping into her shoulder. He stopped a few steps ahead of her and turned, watching her with a look of confusion. They stood, a good few meters apart, for a moment before he said something.

“What -- What do you mean, you can’t?” Karkat asked her, “You’re the one who wanted to do this.”

“I just --” Nepeta looked up at the cloudy sky and sighed. “--I’m reconsidering, now that it’s so close, just -- with all you’ve said about your dad, and your brother, I mean --”

“We don’t have to go,” Karkat said, stepping closer. “We can just go back home and forget about it, they won’t care either way, and if they do, they’ll just chalk it up to me being a failure, like usual.” Nepeta pouted at him.

“That’s not what I want, Karkat,” She said, conflicted, “I want to meet them, I just -- I don’t know if this is the time to do that.”

“Look, it’ll be fine,” Karkat told her, “We’ll figure it out. Kankri can threaten to come over and berate me all he wants, if you don’t want to meet his toxic ass, it’s not gonna hurt my feelings.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, and Karkat stepped next to her, cupping a hand to her face.

“I’m positive.” His hand fell, and wrapped around hers. “Let’s just go out and eat shitty chinese food, I don’t like this side of town anyway.”

Her hand tightened in his, and Nepeta gave him a soft smile.

“I’m sorry, Karkat.”

“Nothing to apologize for. My shitty family can dive off a bridge for all I fucking care.”


	37. “Can I kiss you?”

There was a slight shift in the air, and Nepeta could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She walked alongside Karkat, keeping pace with him as they pounded through the city park, leaves littering their faces and obscuring the sidewalk below. It was sort of nice, to be doing this in the evening when it wasn’t yet below freezing, but getting there.

“I’m glad you talked me into this,” Karkat noted quietly, as not to disturb the empty park. “It’s fucking cold, though.”

Nepeta gave him a soft smile. “I like it well enough,” She said, “Fall is the best season of the year, y’know. All the leaves and the pretty colors, and the sweaters and the hot chocolate. Maybe you just didn’t wear enough layers.”

“I’m wearing a fucking black sweater and an orange coat that makes me look like an injured bird, I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough fucking layers,” Karkat told her, a tone not unbeknownst to her in his voice, and she laughed.

“You’re pretty cute for an injured bird,” She said, smiling and nudging his arm with her elbow. “I’m sure all the astronauts looking down from space think so too!”

“Great, just what I fucking need, an astronaut telling everybody to come look at the dumb injured orange thing, I’m sure they’ll all get a kick out of it.” Karkat rolled his eyes and Nepeta laughed again, grabbing onto his arm this time.

“Aw, man, are you in a bad mood or something?” Nepeta teased, grinning up and jostling him. “What, can I kiss you and make you feel better?”

Karkat thought for a moment.

“Yes,” He said, looking down at her, and she smiled. She leaned up towards him, standing on her tiptoes as Karkat leaned down, and their faces were inches away.

She suddenly stopped and patted his cheek, grinning.

“Too bad,” She told him, “You’re just gonna have to _suffer_.”

“What?” He asked as Nepeta unlocked their arms and started moving ahead of him at a much quicker pace. “You asshole! Where do you think you’re going!”

“Away from you!” She yelled over her shoulder, and started running.

She’d let him catch up in a few blocks.


	38. “I like your laugh.”

“Come on, you can’t be serious!”

Nepeta’s grin taunted him, and he shook his head, smiling with her now.

“I am, Gamzee just fell right over,” He said with a laugh, and she patted his arm, giggling.

“Just into the water?” She asked, and he nodded.

“Just --” He made a plopping sound. “--Right in, we couldn’t get him out of there for three minutes.”

Nepeta’s giggle echoed between them, cute and drunk and something he’d never heard before. “There’s -- There’s _no_ way!”

“It’s true!” He told her, nudging her with his elbow, and she nearly toppled over from just that. “He almost fucking drowned, he can barely swim.”

“That’s -- “ She snorted, holding up a hand to her mouth. “--That’s n-not funny!”

“Then why’re you laughing?” He asked her, a big grin planted on his face as she tried to answer.

“I -- I d-don’t kn -- I don’t k-know!” She giggled, and she threw her head backwards, a hand up to her face as she tried to wipe a tear away.

“It’s fine,” He reassured her, and looked away, “I like your laugh, anyway.”

She snorted, putting a hand out and grabbing onto his shoulder, steadying herself. He glanced over as her giggles began fading, and she was growing quiet by the moment.

“I--I’m glad I came, here,” She managed to get out, brushing her sweater sleeve across her face. “T-This party is so fun!”

“It’s one in the morning, Nep,” He told her, smiling slightly and she giggled again.

“ _Nep_ , that’s such a cute nickname . . .” She laughed, moving her hand and slinging it around his shoulder, and her face moved next to his. “I . . . I l-like it . . .”

Her face was so close to his, he could feel every breath she took. A soft smile was printed across her face, and her eyes were shut tight in joy. He wondered if she was ever like this sober.

“I’m glad.”


	39. “Don’t cry.”

“Wha -- _Fuck_.”

Karkat almost dropped his coffee mug on the table, moving away from it all very quickly and popping into the living room. Nepeta sat on the couch, a giant blanket around her and incredibly visible bags under her eyes. She sniffed, and he started to notice all the tissues around her.

“Nepeta,” Karkat said, quietly, and Nepeta sniffed again, looking over at him with teary eyes as the sounds of . . . ferrets? Came over the TV. “Nepeta, okay, don’t cry.”

“Karkat --” Nepeta sobbed, bringing up a hand to her mouth. “It’s just -- It’s just r-really sad, _okay_ \--”

“I get it, I understand,” Karkat told her, not understanding.

“They’re just -- They’re just _meerkats_ , Karkat --” She choked on her words, grabbing another tissue and blowing her nose noisily. “A-and they’re _hurting_ each other! Why would they go and do that?”

“How long have you been up?” Karkat asked, and she made an effort to shrug.

“W-What time is it?”

“Ten in the morning.”

“I woke up at eight yesterday --”

“Jesus, fuck, _Nep_ \--” Karkat moved over to her, sitting beside her and grabbing her around the shoulders. “What have you been watching?”

“Meerkat M-Manor,” She said, leaning onto his shoulder. “They had a m-marathon, I got attached --”

“You gotta stop doing this,” Karkat told her, patting her arm in an attempt to console her. “You were like this at shark week too --”

“Shark week was _different_! This is just _cold-blooded_ murder, Karkat!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rlly this coulda been karkat but look, i too got emotionally attatched to meerkats once and im p sure nepeta woulda told him "jUST WATCH ONE EPISODE WITH ME" and he woulda been H O O K E D


	40. “I made this for you.”

“Here, take this.”

Karkat shoved the small bag towards her, looking away as Nepeta stared.

“What is it?” She asked, pulling at the string on the top and loosening it up. “It feels . . . bumpy?”

“Just look at it, okay,” Karkat snapped, watching a street lamp instead of her. “I made it for you.” Nepeta watched him for a second longer, before looking down at the bag and reaching inside, and she pulled out a little stick of black charcoal. She stared at it for a second, before looking back at him with a curious smile.

“How’d you know?” She asked, and Karkat shrugged.

“We -- Had to burn some stuff this week, from our yard, leaves and shit -- Just, I grabbed some of the shit later, you said you lost your charcoals, so . . . “ He stopped talking for a second, and she could see his face burning a little brighter. “It’s not a big deal, I just sharpened them and whatever, they’ll probably break on you.”

“Karkat!” Nepeta grinned, dropping the charcoal back in the bag. “This is the most -- most useless gift I’ve ever received.”

“If you don’t fucking want it then I’ll just --”

“But it’s also the most thoughtful.”

She let the bag fall into one hand, and she reached up to grab his arm, squeezing it a little bit. “It’s a really sweet gift, I love it! Thanks!”

He looked at her for a second, then coughed.

“It’s not a big deal.”

She gave him one more smile.

“To me it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //coughs// i have depression?? and i was not in a good mood this week so it got updated when it should have, which to me is a Not Problem  
> for anyone wondering, i have a very strict policy for myself on chapter fics, where i do not post it unless i have the full intention of seeing it to completion. theres a huuuuuuge reason i only post one shots, because i dont want to tie myself to a big ol fuckingingng THING when im already writing another huge fuckingingng THING. shit dont work yo, im okay with doing something like this because these take ten-thirty minutes to write each night, over a ten night period at the least. The longest i'd probably let myself go without updating would be twenty days, so take that information as u will rip


	41. "Go back to sleep."

Driving in bad conditions was always fun, especially at four in the morning when the only thing you could do was pray that the sun would come up two hours early.

Nepeta was a pro at this sort of thing; Driving came naturally to her, and she was, after all, practically almost born in her mom’s beat up van from 1978. She knew the thing inside and out, it was as if she had read the entire coffee-stained manual for it back in fourth grade(She did). Really, the only thing worrying her was Karkat -- he had fallen asleep four hours ago, but as it were currently, he was tossing in the far back seat. The torrential rainfall probably wasn’t helping him, and Nepeta leaned forward on the wheel, hoping she’d stay awake as long as this continued.

The radio was turned down low, but even with the patter of rain and the soft sounds of old broadway tunes, she could hear him grumbling something back some there.

“Go back to sleep,” She said automatically, looking to her slight right as she heard movement. “Nothing’s happening anyway.”

“The fuck do you mean, nothing’s happening,” Karkat said, and she struggled to hear him. “Something’s fucking happening, and we’re either in a warzone or a hurricane, I can’t tell.”

“Yeah, you’ve been in a coma for forty years,” Nepeta told him, smiling a little. “The United States fell after our nuclear power plants exploded, the president was replaced with a warlord who terrorizes small children and the elderly, it’s pretty bad.” She could hear his eyes roll.

“How’d we survive for so long, did you peddle gas or something?” He asked with a sarcastic tone, and she shook her head.

“Nah, we got some bad radiation and I ended up becoming one with the van,” She explained, “You’ve got like seven horns and look vaguely like a raggedy-ann doll, kinda put a dent in our relationship.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Karkat said, moving up towards her. “Never liked the Magic School Bus, anyway.” Nepeta snorted as he got up to the passenger seat, plopping down beside her.

“Did you have a nice sleep anyway, despite the war zone?” She asked him, and he shrugged.

“It was fine. Had a dream where you wrecked the van and we drowned, or something,” He noted, and Nepeta looked over at him.

“Sounds fun?”

“It was alright.”


	42. "Is this okay?"

“It’s the one on the top shelf.”

The phone made a brief static-like noise as Nepeta heard him shuffle around aimlessly, probably looking like a complete idiot.

“There’s, like, twenty fucking brands, Nep,” Karkat told her, an edge to his voice as Nepeta rolled over in bed.

“It’s the -- You know what, just send me a picture,” She said, and she hung up quickly, putting her phone back down on the bed and groaning, clutching her stomach and flopping her face onto the pillow. Cramps _sucked_.

Her phone buzzed and a hand meandered over to it, grabbing it and basking her in a bright iridescent light. She looked away slightly before staring at the picture, and saw the bright purple package she needed. She called Karkat back, and he picked up two seconds later.

“So? Is it okay?”

“The purple one, with the bit of green, that’s the one,” Nepeta said, adding, “And _thank_ you, you’re the _best_ , I’m _dying_ \--”

“Don’t die--”

“Too late, I’m dead, I’ll see you in twenty minutes, you’re great!”


	43. "I picked these for you."

“So, let’s get this straight, you spent the last four hours just hanging out in the field behind school --”

“I was not _just_ hanging out!” Nepeta interrupted, stopping and turning to him. “I was doing something very important!”

“Oh?” Karkat posed, stopping as well. “Frolicking wasn’t important enough?”

“No!” Nepeta said, and fished something out of her backpack. “I had the utmost important job of getting something, _for you_ , to document the fact that I had gone out and done such a generous act!”

“I see,” Karkat said, smiling now. “And what did you get me from a nasty ass field that stoners use to skip class?”

“This!” Nepeta said, and shoved forward a little bouquet of wildflowers, “I picked these for you!”

He took a quick look at them.

“I mean,” He noted, “They’re nasty.” And he pointed at the bit of dirt and roots still connected. Nepeta smiled and nodded.

“I didn’t say they were pretty.”


	44. "I'll drive you to the hospital."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((If this one reads weird, just hit me a comment and ill see what i can do!! i wrote this one at like five am so please give me a break))

“Oh my god, is he okay?” Somebody, a voice, somewhere asked.

“I think he’s bleeding.”

“ _No shit_!”

“Should we call coach?”

“What? No!” He blinked, and saw someone shove someone else. “Then he’ll know we were slacking!”

“What’s going on?” A new voice said.

“Great, now we have another witness . . .”

“He tripped into a nail or something, off the bleachers.” They pointed, he could see, at the bleachers they were all currently hiding behind.

“Is he okay?”

“Is the blood spurting from his knee part not obvious? Or is it just me?”

“He needs to see the nurse.”

“He needs to see a _doctor_.”

At the word doctor coming from the newer voice, he shuddered. He fucking hated going to a hospital.

“What, and you’re gonna drive him?”

“I’ve got a license! And a car! And it’s already two-thirty, anyway, nobody will care!”

“What do we tell the coach?”

“He . . . I dunno, went to the bathroom or something?”

“ _Great_ idea.” He felt two hands grabs onto him, and he was lifted up by two different people. “You sure you don’t mind?”

“He’s got a nail in his knee, Sollux, I think we need to do _something_!”

“I’m just saying!”

A moment passed, and he started realizing that maybe he needed to work on how well he took pain, all things considered. The two people passed him to the newer person who, surprisingly, could handle him by themself.

“Karkat?” They asked. “It’s Nepeta, okay, I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

He wanted to say something.

“Thanks.”

He said, and then blinked, and couldn’t feel much of anything anymore.


	45. 'What do you want to watch?"

“I dunno, what do you want to watch?”

Nepeta pursed her lips and sighed -- nothing was ever on on Sunday mornings, except for televangelists and the news. Very rarely was anything _good_ on.

“What’s on TLC?”

“The learning channel?” Karkat asked her, flipping to the guide and checking as she gave him an odd look.

“That . . . That’s not it’s name, Karkat,” Nepeta said, and he glanced over.

“That _is_ it’s name,” Karkat told her. “What is it supposed to be otherwise?”

“I don’t know,” Nepeta noted. “But, it’s not _that_.”

“It used to be the Appalachian Community Service Network,” Karkat told her. “But now it’s the learning channel, go figure.”

“What?” Nepeta said. “How do you know that?”

“It’s all on wikipedia.”

“And _how_ do you know _that_?”

Karkat paused.

“I . . . Get bored, sometimes, Nepeta,” Karkat said, slowly. “Don’t start judging me for this.”

“So you look up TLC on wikipedia?”

“It was a slippery fucking slope, Nepeta, I can’t control it.”


	46. "You can go first."

“You know what?”

Nepeta took a step back, smiling slightly as Karkat seemed to be the new first in line.

“You can go first!” She told him, a big grin on her face as they heard the plummeting scream of someone who had obviously not thought this ride through. Karkat’s face paled, and Vriska snorted somewhere behind them.

“Uh, no, I thought we --”

“Next in line, please.”

Nepeta gave him a huge grin, Vriska’s eyebrows raising as Karkat prolonged the line.

“Come _on_ , asshole,” Vriska said, “He’s not gonna wait forever, tick tock!”

Karkat stared at Nepeta, and his face turned to a look of betrayal.

“I . . . I trusted you.”

“Too bad, loser!” Vriska yelled, as he backed away with Nepeta waving at him sort of sadly. “En tu, Brutus!”

“It’s -- It’s _Et tu, Brute_ ,” Nepeta noted, and Vriska pshed.

“Lame!”


	47. "Did you get my letter?"

“What do you mean, did I get your letter?” Nepeta asked, a little confused. “Karkat, we -- You know you can just text me, right? Like, it’s not that hard?”

“Uh, I’ll have you _know_ \--” He put on that know-it-all voice that he had, that he used whenever he was being a dick about something. “-- That letters are _very_ romantic, 63% of girls _statistically_ show more interest in their boyfriend if he sends a romantic letter proclaiming his love, which I _did_.”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Nepeta breathed, and held the phone a little bit away from her. “You -- You are just _insufferable_.”

“I am not!” His indignant voice cracked over the phone. “And, even if I am! You are no better!”

“Oh, really?” Nepeta asked, smiling now and putting down her backpack on the desk. “How so?”

“I don’t wanna be gross, but you _literally_ kept roadkill inside your room for three days.”

“It was _staring_ at me, Karkat! What was I _supposed_ to do?!”

“Leave it on the side of the road! Y’know, like a _normal person_?!”

Nepeta was about to say something, but stopped as she saw Feferi peek her head into the door.

“Hey, don’t wanna be rude or nothin’, but, um,” Feferi’s eyes glanced around the room. “I think I speak for everyone in the house when I say that I’d rather you not bring roadkill into our home.”

Karkat’s voice yelled triumphantly over the phone.

“See! Even she gets it!”


	48. "I'll do it for you."

“ _Three_ pages? On the political atmosphere of Czechoslovakia?” Aradia asked, squinting at her. “You’re sure Mr. Hammond isn’t, like, dead, and you’re hallucinating his lectures?”

“I’m sure,” Nepeta groaned, slipping deeper into her chair and getting a look from Eridan across the table. “He assigned everybody a different country, too, and it’s due in, like, five days.” She put her hands over her eyes and sighed, trying to look as morose as possible to gain any sort of sympathy.

“You shouldn’t _complain_ ,” Eridan sneered slightly, glaring at her over his laptop. “You’re in _college_ now, you’re the one who _signed up_ for this.”

“Who’s complaining about what?” Nepeta’s head turned a little, and she spotted Karkat walking up behind her, and plopping down in the chair beside Aradia.

“Political science is starting to get to all of us,” Aradia noted to him, “I wasn’t in class today, but Nepeta was, and we all have to write an essay on the political atmospheres of a few choice countries. Mine is Italy.”

“And mine’s Czechoslovakia!” Nepeta exclaimed, “I don’t even _know_ where that is!”

“It’s actually two countries now, the --”

“I was joking, Eridan!” Nepeta interrupted, and slouched down in the chair again. “I know that! But I don’t wanna do this, this sucks.”

“Is it really that bad?” Karkat asked her, “You have what, two weeks?”

“Five days.”

“ _Christ_ ,” He said, and looked away. “Well, fuck it, you know what? I’ll do it for you.”

“What?” Came out of three different mouths, followed by a laptop getting snapped shut.

“What do you mean, you’ll do it for her?” Eridan asked, and Karkat sighed.

“I’ve already finished all my schoolwork for the year,” He told them, “Like, a month ago --”

“ _What_?” Aradia squinted. “How’d you pull that off?”

“I won’t be able to be in any classes for the last month, so I just offered to do everything in advance so I could be graded. I already finished my exams,” Karkat explained. “Now I’m just hanging out before I have to leave in two weeks.”

“You’ve seriously worked that far ahead?” Nepeta asked. “Like, you’re not lying?”

“Why would I lie about crying myself to sleep for three weeks in January?”

“You cried yourself to sleep?” Aradia asked, and Eridan snorted as Karkat shot him a glare.

“ _Listen_ , I’m not proud of it either.”


	49. "Call me when you get home."

“You sure you’ll be fine?” Nepeta asked, handing him the jacket. “I won’t be here tonight, so you’ll be all by yourself . . .”

“I’ll be okay,” Karkat reassured her, “I don’t plan on killing myself or anything, so no worries, okay?”

“Alright,” Nepeta said, and gave him a look. “Just call me when you get home, I don’t wanna be left in the dark.”

“I won’t forget.”


	50. "I think you're beautiful."

There was a long silence, the two sitting quietly on the patio, just underneath the railings. The moon was out in full force, and they could clearly see the stars in the night sky, glittering about in such a way that made you think they were closer than they actually were.

“This is nice,” Nepeta said softly, looking out at the beach. The sound of waves came from their front, while the unmistakable noise of a beachfront party came from behind, specifically from the massive beach house that housed it. They all knew Feferi was loaded; Just how much, though, was a mystery up until this point.

“Yeah, it is,” He noted, “Nice to not be in the fucking thick of it.” Nepeta smiled, not looking at him.

“I don’t know,” She said, a moment having passed between them. “I sort of like it; everybody around you, nobody really caring if somebody steps on someone else’s feet . . .”

“I just get a mob feel from it,” Karkat told her, and she shook her head.

“That’s because you hate parties,” Nepeta chided.

“That’s because I hate _people_.”

“You don’t hate Gamzee,” She pointed out, literally pointing at him. “Or Terezi! Matter of fact, you’re on pretty good terms with Sollux, too --“

“So?” He asked, a sneer tone to his voice that Nepeta caught on to.

“So,” She said, “You don’t hate _people_ , you just hate _party_ people.”

A short, small laugh came out of him, and he looked away from her.

“Yeah, okay,” Karkat said, disbelief in his words. Nepeta rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know why I try,” She noted, moving to stand. “You’re just . . . _Impossible_.” She stood up on the patio, ducking back under the railing and sighing to herself, grabbing at her jacket. Karkat didn’t look at her as she left, and she heard her shoes tapping back towards the glass door that separated the party from the patio. He shut his eyes tight, bargaining with himself for a second.

“Hey,” He spoke up, trying to get her attention. He turned to his left and sat his legs up on the patio, sitting up against one of the supports of the railing. Nepeta stood, a hand to the glass door, and pivoted on her feet, her eyes just slightly narrowed in suspicion.

“What?” She asked, her voice a bit cold. He looked up at the sky, then back at her, sighing.

“You’re wrong,” He said, “I don’t hate party people.”

“Do you now,” She said flatly, and he rubbed his legs, nodding.

“I mean,” Karkat noted, “I don’t hate you.”

A little laugh came out of her, and she looked down, as if she thought this was a bit funnier than it was, as if she was being just a bit cynical of it all.

“Yeah, okay,” She said, smiling coldly and looking back at him, almost disappointed. “That’s great and all, Karkat, but --”

“I think you’re beautiful.”

Nepeta stopped, words caught on her lips and her mouth hanging open just slightly, as if she was just about to say something. Karkat stared at her, and she blinked a couple times, looking dumbstruck in that polka-dot dress of hers.

“I’m . . . _Sorry_ , what --”

“I think you’re beautiful,” He repeated, gesturing with his hands. “I thought that was pretty easy to understand --”

“No, no, what do you --” Nepeta started, “--What do you mean, what does that mean --”

“I think you need to work on your understanding of the English language, see,” Karkat explained, “When I say, ‘ _I think you’re beautiful,_ ’ it means I’m pretty sure you’re --”

“No, I got that!” Nepeta exclaimed, a bit frustrated now. “I _mean_ how do you want me to take that, that’s the part I --”

“Well,” He interrupted, “I mean, I hope you take that to mean that I really fucking like you, but, I mean, if you’re taking that differently --”

“Wait, you -- you like me?” Nepeta asked, and pointed at herself, and Karkat was getting just a little bit annoyed.

“Yes, that’s what I mean, I like you, Nepeta!” He exclaimed. “I really fucking like you! Do you need me to say it again --”

“Wait, okay, you like me?” She repeated, then gestured behind her. “Not -- Not somebody else, you like _me_ , Nepeta --”

“Okay, I am _this_ close to taking it back, Nep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeey back again, basically ten days later?? im bad at math who knew  
> okay but to be really serious, if an update doesn't come out (Which it will! im not feeling too bad) in ten days, then like literally don't freak out, Somebody around me died, and it literally happened like, an hour ago today, and the first thing i fucking think of ??? "Hey why not put out the update i was planning for anyway!!!! yaaaaaaaaay" so thats what i did haha  
> so thats just a heads up, but still yell at me if somethin doesnt happen in a month LMFAO


	51. "Are you sure?"

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Karkat asked her, and Nepeta took a deep breath.

“I think,” She said, a moment having passed, “I can suffer through a Thanksgiving dinner with your extended family, Karkat.”

“I’m just being sure!” He told her, throwing his hands up in the air as they sat in their parked car. “ _You_ know, and  _I_ know, that my family gets ugly at reunions --”

“Yes, I remember it from the sixty-seventh time you’ve told me,” Nepeta noted, pursing her lips.

“So you remember the part that I told you the only person in my family that I actually enjoy the company of is Aunt Marsh, and that’s only because she gave me money --”

“--When you were six, I know this,” Nepeta said, smiling slightly. “Look, if I can murder an innocent deer grazing in a field, I can manage the whole family thing too, I think.”

“Alright,” He said, and straightened his collar. “Your funeral.”


	52. "Have fun!"

“Nepeta!” He yelled to the upstairs. “We’re leaving!”

They heard footsteps from above, and Sollux gave a meaningful  _we should have left by now_ look. Karkat rolled his eyes as Nepeta appeared in pajamas on the staircase.

“Okay!” She said, smiling. “Have fun, me and Feferi are gonna be up all night watching _Meerkat Manor_ , so if you do end up coming home --”

“I’ll make sure to sleep on the couch,” He finished and shot her a grin. Nepeta’s smile brightened and she waved them off.

“Well go!” She told them, and Sollux immediately turned. “And don’t forget to tell Eridan he’s a _dick_ for me!”


	53. "Sit down, I'll get it."

“They’re not gonna shut the fuck up, are they?” Karkat seethed, glaring down at a group of drunks nearby. Feferi looked uncomfortable at the sight of them, and Terezi was holding tightly onto her cane, watching them with squinted eyes.

“You think they’re gonna do anything?” Tavros whispered to Nepeta, and she shook her head.

“No, they wouldn’t!” She said, smiling and trying to be reassuring. “They don’t look that tough.”

“If they do,” Terezi noted, and held her cane up. “I’ll whap ‘em.”

“Don’t fucking whap them --”

“You can’t stop me from doing shit, crabby!” Terezi exclaimed, swinging her cane slightly and nearly hitting him in the stomach with it. “I knew I’d be whapping someone today, put on my orphan gloves for a reason.” She waved her fingers a little, showing off her fingerless gloves. “Now we just wait for one of them to make a mistake.”

“Well let’s hope they don’t --” Feferi started, but Terezi stood up and gave them all a meaningful look (She stuck her tongue out and “ _Bleh_ ”ed at them.), which they noticed. Feferi quickly stood and punched her shoulder, yelling, “Don’t _encourage_ them, for Christ’s sake!”

“Too late!” Terezi said, smiling slightly as four of them approached, looking various levels of douchebag. Nepeta groaned, because she and Karkat were on the side of the table they were coming towards. Terezi winked at her, and Tavros shrunk in his seat.

“What’re you lookin’ at us like that for?” One of them, head Douche, said, glaring at Terezi. She scoffed.

“Oh, cool, be a fucking asshole to the blind kid, I get it!” Terezi exclaimed, glaring at them through her red glasses.

“You’re not blind,” Another one, Douchebag, told her, squinting as Terezi gasped.

“Not _blind_?” She yelled as Feferi gave her an angry look, patting her arm in the universal language of _sit the fuck down_. Terezi only took off her glasses to reveal her blood red eyes, courtesy of a bleach attack. “I’ll tell you who’s fucking blind!”

“Shit, why the fuck were you stickin’ your tongue out for?” Douchebag said, glaring now. “One of your asshole friends point you a direction and tell you to?”

“As a matter of fact --” Terezi started, but Feferi immediately stood up and started talking over her.

“Hey, okay, we don’t want any trouble!” Feferi said, trying to calm everyone down. “She didn’t mean it!”

“The fuck you mean,” Another douche, Douchenozzle, asked. “What, were you the one who told her to do it?”

“I’m -- I’m not involved in--”

“No, uh, that was me.”

Karkat, and everyone else at the table, and the group of douches, looked at Nepeta.

“ _What are you doing,_ ” Tavros whispered, looking incredibly intimidated as Nepeta looked at the group beside her.

“I told her to do it,” Nepeta explained, calmly enough. “It was my idea, because you guys, um, in her words, were being . . . assholes.”

“What, we can’t have a drink in this _establishment_ without some catty bitch being a dick?” Douche said, slurring a word or two. Nepeta opened her mouth to respond, but the final douche, Douchey, said something first.

“She’s probably just high off her fucking rocker, let’s go,” They said, rolling their eyes and looking seemingly indifferent to the whole thing. Douchebag took issue with the statement.

“I’m not leaving til’ she fucking apologizes,” He said, and glared at her with a look of pure drunkenness. Nepeta sighed a little, and Terezi’s grin was widening as she tapped her cane on the ground.

“Look, if that’s what it --”

Douchenozzle dropped his bottle of beer, and it rolled onto the floor, staying in tact. Douche looked there, then smiled just the slightest bit and looked back at them.

“Well, fuck, if she wants to _apologize_ ,” They said, stepping back. “She can pick up my bottle for me and we’ll call it _even_.”

Karkat stood up, shaking the table slightly and glaring at the group, opening his mouth before Nepeta quickly swept in.

“No, no,” She said, trying to sound chill. “Sit down, I’ll get it.”

Feferi looked at her, her eyes narrowed as Karkat stared, then, very slowly sat back down as Nepeta eased her way out of the seat, standing up between the booth and the group.

She bent down and picked the bottle up, hearing Douchey in the background say, “This is so fucking stupid,” under his breath as she stood straight, holding the bottle by the neck. Douche smiled.

“Well, thank you very --”

And she smashed the thing against his fucking head.

“Oh, _fuck_ yeah!” Terezi screamed, standing up in her seat and jumping right across the table, eager to join the fight as Douche reeled backwards, and the other three looked varying levels of pissed or surprised. Douchey ran as soon as Terezi jumped, and Karkat stood up as Tavros yelled a little bit.

And, in that brief moment, Nepeta felt true relief.


	54. “I made reservations.”

“Well, that is the quickest we’ve been thrown out of a restaraunt!”

Terezi grinned as she plopped down on the sidewalk outside, nursing a black eye. Feferi groaned, sitting down beside her.

“We didn’t even get to _eat_ ,” She bemoaned, adding, “At least we hadn’t paid yet.”

“Don’t sound so glum!” Nepeta said, smiling a little as Karkat helped her sit down, as suddenly for reasons totally not connected to the fight her legs felt a bit sore. “We can just go somewhere else!”

“As if anywhere else was as good as here,” Feferi said, frowning. “I’ve been coming here since I was, like, ten, and now they probably have me on a _list_.”

“It’s a fucking _Applebee’s_ , Peixes,” Terezi told her. “There’s another one across town, and the place fucking sucks, anyway. Don’t know why you like it.”

“You’re only saying that because you got punched,” Feferi snapped, and Terezi grinned.

“Yeah, well, you should see the other guy!” She exclaimed, “He’ll be looking like that until  _November_!”

“And you’ll have that black eye until December,” Tavros noted, and Terezi scoffed.

“I am trying to lighten the fucking mood, Tavros,” Terezi said, pursing her lips.

“Well, it’s only seven,” Nepeta told them, smiling, “We should try and see if anywhere else isn’t packed like --”

“Done,” Karkat said, standing up again. “I made reservations.”

“You did _what_?” Nepeta asked, and he shrugged.

“There’s an italian place just up the road, we’re due there in forty-five minutes,” He noted to them, and helped Nepeta up again. “If nothing else we can loiter in front of that place instead of this _dump_.”

“Well, I am glad _someone_ is making plans!” Terezi exclaimed, shooting up. “Let’s fucking go! Fuck this place!”

“Yeah, yeah!” Tavros said, standing up as well. “Fuck this place!”

“Fuck this place,” Nepeta and Karkat said at the same time, both smiling.

They all looked down to Feferi, and she glared slightly.

She sighed a moment later.

“ . . . Fuck this place,” She said, and they all cheered as she stood.

“ _Fucking right_!” Terezi shouted, “Let’s _blow_ this joint!”


	55. "I don't mind."

“Hey, can we sit here?”

Nepeta looked up at the taller guy standing next to her, pointing down at the last two seats in the movie theater.

“Oh, sure,” She said, smiling as Feferi looked over. “I don’t mind!”

“Thanks,” He told her, and he and his friend sat down. “We appreciate it.”

Nepeta nodded, and Feferi motioned for her to listen in, which she did.

“That’s Karkat,” She whispered over, “You know Kankri Vantas? That’s his _brother_.”

“Wait, really?” Nepeta asked, in the same tone. “I didn’t know that, is he anything like him?”

“In terms of volume, no,” Feferi said, adding, “But I wouldn’t know otherwise.”

“Oh,” Nepeta said, and sneaked a glance at him in the darkening movie theater. “He’s cute!”

Feferi popped a grin.

“Knew you’d say that.”


	56. "It brings out your eyes."

“Nice necklace, Nep,” Karkat said, smiling just slightly. “Brings out your eyes.”

“Aw, thanks!” Nepeta answered, grinning and patting his arm. “It’s my mom’s, she said she wore it to her prom, and it matched the dress, so . .”

“Well, she was right,” He told her, “You look awesome.”

“Awesome? Well gee, would've worn something a little nicer had I known I’d just be getting awesome,” She teased and Karkat rolled his eyes

“You look _stunning_ , is that better?”

“I can settle.”


	57. "There is enough room for both of us."

“It’s not too small.”

Nepeta always seemed to look on the bright side of the picture; Unfortunately for them, the bright side was that the hotel room had wifi. She dumped a dufflebag on the floor and flopped onto the made-for-one bed that he was very sure was going to torture him through the rest of the night.

“See,” She noted, smiling slightly and looking back at him. “There’s enough room for both of us!”

“Okay, so, no matter how fucking small you might seem,” Karkat told her, shaking his head. “Compared to you I’m a fucking goliath, there’s no way we’re fitting in there.”

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it!” Nepeta admonished, a grin playing at her face now. “Besides, I _guess_ if you want to sleep in that big ol’ RV for the fifty-third time in three months --”

“Move over.”


	58. "You don't have to say anything."

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Nepeta’s voice was soft, and the hand on his shoulder was a slight comfort. He didn’t answer her, which was all she needed to know.

“Look, you were right,” She told him, and looked away, down off the stage they were both sitting on. “I can’t believe your brother would just go and do that, just . . . I’m sorry, about that.”

He still didn’t speak.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Nepeta noted, sighing quietly. “But, y’know, I’m here for you. If -- If you need anything.”

She stopped talking, her hand still on his shoulder, and sort of froze.

“Thanks, Nep,” He said, and he felt her hand move in response. It tightened, just a bit, and from the corner of his eye he saw a very small smile peek out on her face. 

They didn’t say anything else.

They didn’t have to.


	59. "Wow."

His mouth sort of hung open, for a minute.

“Wow.”

Sollux heard him, unfortunately, and looked over to follow his gaze. He spotted her, and a sharp elbow was plunged into Karkat’s side.

“Keep it in your pants, lover boy,” Sollux smirked, a grin playing at his face. “Don’t wanna draw any unnece -- Fuck, un-nece-ss --”

“Unnecessary?” Karkat talked over his stuttering mess, and Sollux’s elbow was found in his side again.

“That was gonna sound smart when I finished it, asshole,” Sollux told him, glaring behind those stupid 3D glasses of his. He pointed at the girl who had entered the room not twenty seconds ago. “What, you like her or something?”

“I’ve never fucking seen her before, Sollux.”

“Her names Nepeta,” Sollux noted easily, leaning back in his chair. “She’s been in this class since the year started, and it’s October now, dumbass, I don’t know how you didn’t notice her ‘til now.”

“How do you know her?” Karkat asked, and he shrugged.

“She and Feferi hung out sometimes,” He said, then added when Karkat still looked desperate for information, “I dunno, she like cats?”

“That’s all you have?” He questioned, narrowing his eyes as Sollux rolled his.

“Sorry I don’t have any info on who my ex-girlfriend hangs out with nowadays,” He said with a rude look. “My mistake.”

“Hey!”

Nepeta walked right in between them, and faced Sollux, and uh, fuck.

“You’re Sollux, right?” She asked him, smiling. “Feferi’s ex?”

“Uh, I’m not if it’s gonna get me punched in the face,” Sollux noted to her, and she let out a tinkling laugh.

“No, silly!” Nepeta grinned. “She told me you were good at math, and I was wondering if maybe you could help me out?”

“Math?” Sollux repeated, cocking a lopsided grin. “No, no, I’m shit at math, she must’ve been talking about my friend over here.”

He gestured to Karkat, who fought back the urge to punch him in the throat and gave a uninterested, raised eyebrows towards her.

“Oh!” Nepeta looked surprised, and, fuck, was she blushing? Or was it just him? Was he projecting his beet red face onto her like a weird light? “Hi, I’m Nepeta!”

She held out her hand, clutching her chemistry textbook in her other, and smiled at her.

He wasn’t a huge fucking idiot, so he took that hand, and shook it.

“Karkat,” He told her, “And yeah, as fuckboy over there said, I’m the logical one in this relationship.”

“Oh, you two are dating?” Nepeta asked with an innocent look, and both boys immediately started disagreeing, Sollux letting out a stiff laugh.

“I would not touch his dick with a ten-foot pole --”

“Like you’d be able to fucking _reach_ it, shorty --”

“You’d be surprised what these hands can do, tallass, if we were actually dating --”

“Can you shut your fuck --”

“Nepeta, we’re _not_ dating,” Sollux finished, a grin planted neatly on his face. “Though he’s not my Eagle Two, if you catch my drift.”

He winked, and Karkat swore to himself that when this fucker died, it’d be at his hands.

“Well,” Nepeta started, slowly, and looking in between the two of them. “I mean, I still do need help with my math, and I’d really appreciate if --”

“Yes,” Karkat said, stopping her right there. Nepeta looked surprised for a second.

“Oh!” Nepeta leaned forward a little, clutching her book with both hands now. “Well -- Great! That’s, that’s just great, do you have study hall at one?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Karkat answered, smiling just slightly at her as she tucked a bit of hair behind her ear.

“Awesome!” She exclaimed, her own grin lighting up the room. “I’ll meet you in the library then, if that’s okay?”

“Cool,” He said, all chill like, and she smiled at him again before going past him and taking her seat somewhere behind them. Karkat grinned to himself, like a stupid fucking idiot, and Sollux punched him in the shoulder.

“You just got done with study hall, asshole,” Sollux told him, a smirk on his face. Karkat shrugged.

“We’ll just have to change that, won’t we?”


	60. "Happy Birthday."

“Happy birthday.”

He presented her with a little, tiny present box, wrapped in an intricately done (But was that tape?) bow. She gasped and held out her hand, gently lifting it from his grasp.

“You didn’t have to get my anything!” She told him, smiling slightly towards him.

“Well, I mean,” He shrugged. “It’s also our anniversary, so.”

“Still!” Nepeta noted, but pulled at the top of the present nonetheless. “I didn’t get you anything, I know you said you didn’t like celebrating this kind of stuff last year!”

“Yeah, well,” He shifted a little. “You do. So, like, fucking open it.”

She smiled, grabbing the top and pulling it off completely.

“Aw!” She looked back up at him, her grin wide. “Oh, Karkat! This is perfect! I didn’t know you paid attention to my wishlist!”

“I’m not too stupid,” He noted, smiling back at her. “You put it up there three weeks ago, and you’d look cute in it anyway, so it’s a win-win.”

“Thank you, Karkat! This is fantastic!”

“I do try my best, sometimes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //SHAKES ARMS// WE'RE ONLY FOURTY AWAY FROM THE END  
> that means basically fourty more days of this fuckos!!!!!!!!! writing block who the FUCK is she  
> aaaanywaaaaaaaay, man, maybe the final last chapter will be "and all the prompts were connected~~" or some bullshit like that, i'd do that but fuck if i know how half of these probably contradict each other at this point lmfaoooo, im still really enjoying writing all this its just fun to have a chill thing to be doing in the back of my head every night  
> thank you for reading ;)


	61. "I'll pick it up after work."

“Karkat, hey, Karkat!”

Nepeta leaned backwards on her desk chair, her face popping outside her office space as Karkat walked by. He stopped in front of her, a curious expression on his face.

“What?” He asked and pointed down the hall. “I’ve gotta go see someone, is --”

“Great, that’s great, but!” Nepeta turned in her chair completely to face him, smiling a little. “Can you -- Can you do something for me?”

“ . . . Sure?” Karkat answered slowly, looking confused as Nepeta nodded quickly, her smile widening.

“Awesome, okay, just, like, I know you live right upstairs from me, and,” She said, her voice picking up speed. “And, I won’t be home until late tonight, and the general store down the street’s been holding this movie for me for, like, eight years, and they’ve told me they’re just going to throw it away if I don’t go get it today and so I was -- I was just wondering if, maybe, y’know, you could grab it, for me? If it’s not out of your way or anything --”

“Sure, yeah, that’s fine,” Karkat told her, shrugging. “I’ll pick it up after work, no problem.”

“Thank you!” Nepeta’s grin brightened as a relieved sigh came out of her. “That’s -- That’s great, thank you so much!”

 

“Should I just leave it outside your door?” Karkat questioned, and she shook her head.

“No, I’ll come over and pick it up, if that’s okay,” She told him, adding, “I don’t -- I don’t wanna, y’know, bother you or anything --”

“That’s fine,” He interrupted, “You won’t bother me any.”

“Oh, okay,” Nepeta sighed slightly, smiling still. “Sorry to -- Sorry to bother you now, and all, I just--”

“You’re fine, Nepeta. It’s good.”


	62. “It can wait until tomorrow.”

“Woah, wait, where are you going?”

Nepeta turned around, spotting Karkat sit up and yawn in bed, rubbing his eyes.

“What in the fuck are you doing?” He asked her, shaking his head slightly. “It’s two in the morning, Nep.”

“How’d you sleep through it?” She asked, turning and pursing her lips. “Whoever’s upstairs started playing 80’s music two hours ago, they’re still playing.”

Karkat stopped for a second, looking up slightly and now recognizing the Blondie song playing above. He glanced back at her.

“It can wait until morning, okay, when the sun is out,” Karkat groaned, “Blondie is a good band.”

“Not when it’s playing at two in the morning --”

“If I can suffer through your snoring, you can suffer through three hours of hell featuring Debbie Harry and co.”


	63. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Karkat stepped back just slightly, watching a mountain of steam pour out from the mini-explosion happening in the beaker. Nepeta stared at it through her safety goggles, now dripping with green liquid as she bit her lip.

“I think I’ve just made it clear,” Nepeta said slowly, glancing at Karkat. “That I am _very_ bad at math.”

“No _shit_ ,” Karkat replied, putting a hand in his pocket. “I don’t . . . I don’t even know how that was possible.”

“Yeah,” She noted, “That happens a lot with me and this class.” She gestured around the classroom, which was clearly the chemistry classroom.

“Okay, but -- What did you even _do_?” He pointed at the mess now, seeing Nepeta take off her goggles and put them on the table. She shook her head.

“I swear I don’t know!” Nepeta exclaimed, putting a hand to her head as Karkat began pulling a towel out of the cabinet under the table. “The whole thing just -- ran aground. I don’t even know what I did.”

“You sure you don’t know?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Nepeta sighed, “This was not intentional. But I may -- I _may_ have messed up an equation.”


	64. “It’s two sugars, right?”

“It’s, uh . . . “ Nepeta squinted at the board, then looked beside her. “It’s two sugars, right?”

“Right,” Karkat noted, smiling a little as she struggled.

“And . . . And, uh, three spoonfuls . . . “ Nepeta looked back at the barista, who looked a bit agonized. “. . . . Of milk?”

“You got it,” Karkat told her, nudging her slightly with his elbow. “And she just wants a cappuccino.”

“Both to go!”


	65. “I’ll help you study.”

“Okay, so, we just move helium to the other side, right?”

“Why the fuck do we do that?”

“Because it’s got two electrons, so it goes in 2A, it’s just over in 8A for laughs,” Nepeta noted, making a little mark on the periodic table. “So, let’s say we need to find . . . . I dunno, zinc, tell me what it’s configuration is.”

“Remind me,” Karkat said, slowly, “What configuration you’re referring to --”

“The ground state electron configuration, just -- y’know, where it is on the periodic table without pointing to it, right?” Nepeta gave him a smile, adding, “Remember, it’s one-s-squared, two-s-squared, two . . .”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Karkat answered, looking back down at the table. “So, zinc, it’s . . . one-s-squared, two-s-squared, two-p-squared, three --”

“No, there’s up to six valence alectrons in p-orbitals,” Nepeta told him, “So it’d be two-p-to the sixth, right?”

“Right, yeah,” Karkat agreed and stared at the page, unsure and biting his bottom lip. “ . . . Fuck, can’t we just switch to math now?”

“Look, you can help me study whatever algebra is,” Nepeta said, pursing her lip as he sighed. “If you’ll let me help you study chemistry first, okay?”

“I don’t get how this comes so easy to you,” Karkat told her, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his face. “It’s just fucking nonsense, it’s all letters and elements and remembering dumb shit and, look, those aren’t even real exponents.”

“Yeah, they aren’t,” Nepeta noted, nodding slightly. “They’re just electrons.”

“It’s bullshit.”

“Kinda.”

“How are you so good at it?” Karkat asked. “You agree that it’s total bullshit, but you know how to do it?”

“It’s just a matter of habit!” She said, “You just gotta do it a lot until you understand, but it’ll come to you at some point! I learned because Equius really likes chemistry, and all that weird engineering stuff, and Meulin used to have this chemistry kit, so with all three of our powers combined, we’d figure everything out.”

“And you called that fun?”

“When I was eight, a lot of weird stuff was fun.”


	66. “Stay over.”

“I don’t imagine you’d know how long it takes to drive twenty minutes from my house?” Nepeta asked, sighing as she dropped the phone off the bed, looking tired.

“I mean,” Karkat responded, slowly, “Twenty minutes?”

“That’s what I’d think,” She said, leaning back and pursing her lips. “My mom’s not answering my texts, so either she’s dead, she’s dying, or she’s blackout drunk.”

“Does your mom do that?” He asked.

“No,” Nepeta noted, kicking her leg a little. “But I like to think that’s what happens when she doesn’t answer her _stupid_ phone.”

“Have you called your sister?”

“Yeah, but she’s with Kurloz,” She groaned, “So they’re doing gross stuff, like -- like _marijuana_. She’s not gonna help me.”

“Well, I would offer you a ride home, but my dad may as well be dead,” Karkat told her, “He’s at some religious conference and Kankri isn’t home yet, and -- like, you can imagine the piss-party he’ll throw if he knew you were here without adult supervision.”

“He won’t throw a fit!” Nepeta said, “Didn’t he have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah,” Karkat said, “When he was _twelve_ and at _Jesus camp_.”

“And he wouldn’t know the thrill of two seventeen year olds being left alone?” She asked, smiling slightly now. “Their parent’s gone? One at a Jesus conference and another blackout drunk while their siblings get high on marijuana _and_ God?”

“He would _not_ ,” Karkat told her with a slight grin, evidently enjoying this, “He’d rather fuck himself to death than think about teenagers and sex in the same sentence.”

“You shouldn’t give him such a hard time,” Nepeta noted, “He’s really religious, right, it’d make sense for him to just sort of reject that kind of stuff.”

“He acts like a five year old anytime someone brings it up,” Karkat said, “I wouldn’t give him a break if we were skidding off the road a hundred miles an hour past the speed limit.”

Nepeta gave him a look, adding, “Well, _anyway_ , back to the topic -- Equius is over in Arkansas, so he’s not an option.”

“And I’d ask Kanaya, but,” Karkat glanced over at her. “She’s gonna give me a lecture about safety, and I’m not really feeling up to that right about now.”

“So,” Nepeta flopped backwards on the bed, sighing. “I’m out of options.”

“No, you’ve got _one_ option, I’m pretty sure,” Karkat told her, swinging around in the chair as her head lifted just a little bit to squint at him.

“Oh, really?” She asked, sounding peeved. “And what’s that?”

“Stay over.”


	67. "I did the dishes."

“Well, I mean -- if it’s any consolation, I did the dishes.”

“Well, that’s good,” Nepeta noted, nodding slowly. “Means I don’t have to do them.”

“But uh,” Karkat gestured at the room, “This might . . . Take a little while, uh, longer.”

“Yeah,” She agreed. “I’ll help.”

“Cool.”

Neither of them moved as they stared at the room, covered in feathers and torn apart pillows.

“Getting a cat was a good idea,” Karkat said, his tone saying otherwise. Nepeta shot him a glare.

“Don’t you say a _word_ against Pounce.”


	68. “You didn’t have to ask.”

“Hey, can I sit here?” Nepeta asked him, smiling slightly and pointing at the couch. He glanced over at her and moved, giving her enough room to sit next to him.

“You know, you didn’t have to ask,” Karkat noted, watching her sit and shrug, leaning backwards on the cushions.

“I know, I just wanted to,” She replied and elbowed him, a laugh caught on her lips. He rolled his eyes, sitting back and frowning.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but --” He gestured to his hand, specifically his ring finger. “--We’re fucking married.”

“I think I noticed,” Nepeta told him, pursing her lips and squinting. “My mom keeps offhandedly mentioning that your dad is hot, I _really_ don’t want to think about it.”

“At least my brother doesn’t like Meulin at all,” Karkat noted, and she nodded quietly. A moment passed.

“Might’ve been the weed thing.”

“Might’ve been.”


	69. “I bought you a ticket.”

“They’re already sold out!”

“ _What_?” Feferi yelled, slamming her magazine to the ground. “What do you mean, _they’re sold out_!”

“I could only buy mine!” Nepeta defended as everyone seemed to back in on her, and she held up her hands. “It happened so fast!”

“Ugh, that _sucks_ ,” Vriska groaned, grabbing and pulling at her face. “I was so fucking ready to go, I was ready to get my ass scared right off, but no! _No_ , everybody else in the world _has_ to go see the one fucking haunted house in the tri-state area!”

“I’m sure we can find some other form of entertainment,” Aradia told them, “Even if it is lame.”

“Hey!” Tavros pointed at her. “Haunted hayrides are _not lame_!”

“They are when they’re in the middle of a university and run by a bunch of college kids,” Eridan sneered, glaring at him. “Fucking stupid.”

“It’s fine, we’ll just find something else to do,” Karkat told them, “Even if it has to be a haunted hayride.”

“I don’t want to alarm anybody,” Kanaya noted, standing up from the bed. “But hay usually houses a good number of fleas.”

“Fucking fantastic,” Vriska seethed, glancing at Kanaya. “Well, I don’t fucking care, we’ll figure this out some other time. It’s midnight, I’m tired, and I want to go yell at a tree.”

“Why?” Karkat asked.

“Because it’s a free-fucking-country, asshole,” Vriska said, a glare printed on her face as she stormed out of the room.

“I would happen to agree.” Kanaya stood up from the bed, brushing off her skirt. “It is quite late, we all really should be going if we’d like to wake up in the morning hours.”

“I don’t think anybody really does that anymore, Kanaya,” Feferi told her, and Kanaya shrugged as the rest of them seemed to stand as well.

“Thank you for letting us use your room, Karkat,” Kanaya said, shooting Karkat a smile. “It was very nice of you to do so.”

“Nice is my middle name,” He replied, and Eridan gave him a look.

“I thought it was Eugene.”

“It was a joke, fuckwad,” Karkat said, not looking at him as they all filed out of the room. Nepeta pushed herself against the wall to let everyone out, and glanced out the door once they had all left. Karkat looked over at her. “Was there something you needed?”

Nepeta didn’t answer, instead opening her backpack and fishing out her ticket to the haunted house, turning and smiling at him.

“I didn’t wanna tell anyone else this, but, I bought myself a ticket --” And she moved the ticket in her hand, and now displayed two. “--And I bought you a ticket, too.”

Karkat stared at her.

“But you said you --”

“I _originally_ wanted Equius to go with me,” Nepeta interrupted quickly, “But apparently he’s really scared of clowns, which I had no idea of, so I just figured you’d be the next best choice.”

“Wow, Nep,” Karkat told her, “Glad to be choice number two.”

“Do you not want to --”

“That’s _not_ what I meant!”


	70. "You're warm."

Nepeta grabbed onto his arm, hugging it and frowning.

“You’re so _warm_ ,” Nepeta told him, squinting. “It’s negative twenty degrees outside, what have you been _doing_ all day?”

“Literally just sitting here,” Karkat said, “In front of the heater.”

“Well, it worked, you’re really warm and it’s very nice.”

“I do try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops two days late it'S FINE THO
> 
> I've been working a l o t so please forgive me if im off by a day or two, it happens lmao, but yeAH ONLY THIRTY MORE TO GO


	71. "No reason."

“Now, why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?” Nepeta asked, squinting at him suspiciously as he seemed to roll his eyes.

“No reason,” Karkat told her, shifting on the soles of his feet. “I just figured it’d be nice.”

“Karkat, you don’t really, like --” Nepeta searched for the words. “-- Talk. To me. We’ve been biology partners once, and, I mean, I appreciate it! I do!”

She gestured down to the sketchbook he had given her, smiling.

“But -- I just don’t understand why you would, y’know, give me the time of day,” She explained, her shoulders turning upwards. “You haven’t really done it before.”

“Look, I just think we should be -- I don’t know, better friends?” Karkat said, a questioning look on his face. “Like you said, I don’t really talk to you, and I see you everywhere, I mean -- There’s no fucking reason we don’t hang out.”

“Well,” Nepeta noted, looking upwards. “You don’t like Equius, and he’s, like, my best friend.”

“I don’t like him because every time someone talks to him he gets a hard on,” Karkat explained, and Nepeta pursed her lips, looking away. “He’s a total fucking embarassment, I don’t know why you hang out with that piece of shit.”

“He’s really nice once you get to know him!” She exclaimed, sounding earnest. “You just haven’t given him a chance!”

“If I gave that guy a chance I’d get involved with some weird fucking horse porn, and I’m sorry, Nepeta, but I’m not all that into it,” He told her, glaring slightly now. “If that changes, you’ll be the first to know.”

“You know what, you can tell him that on your own time.”


	72. "I'll meet you halfway."

“Do you still need a ride to the concert?” Karkat asked her, glancing over as she perked up slightly. Equius sat back in his chair, obviously unnerved around him, and Karkat could say the same.

“Uh, well,” Nepeta thought for a second, “Equius, didn’t you say you could take me?”

“I can take you,” Equius told her, adjusting his sunglasses; Why the fucker chose to wear those inside eluded him, “But not all the way. I’ll be leaving to visit family this weekend, and would have to get off the highway halfway to the concert.”

“Oh, okay,” Nepeta noted, biting her lip. “If that’s the case, then really, I might as well not --”

“I’ll meet you halfway,” Karkat interrupted her quickly, and with a stark look from Equius, added, “I mean, I’m going anyway, I can pick you up halfway there, and then -- y’know, drive you back home.”

“Really?” Nepeta asked, curious now, “You’d be okay with --”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Equius stated, probably glaring at him behind those stupid glasses. “You don’t know what could happen at the concert, what if you get separated from her? Or leave without her? I don’t --”

“Who the fuck do you think I am?” Karkat asked him, a little fed up with his attitude. “I wouldn’t just fucking leave without her, I’m not a goddamn monster.”

“ _Still_ ,” Equius strongly noted, “Nepeta, if you want to go, I’d suggest getting more reliable transportation than _him_. Feferi or Vriska might be a better choice.”

“You know Feferi doesn’t like Y.H.Y., Equius,” Nepeta told him, pursing her lips and squinting at him. “And I don’t . . . _Like_ Vriska all that much, so --”

“I strongly suggest you find another option, then,” Equius said, and before he could get another word in, Karkat talked over him.

“You know I’m sitting right fucking here, right?” Karkat asked, shooting a glare at Equius before turning to Nepeta. “Look, I’ll pick you up from your fucking house if I need to, that’s fine. And, unlike Captain Jerkward over here seems to think, I’m not just gonna leave you there, even if we get separated. It’ll be _fine_.”

He directed the last part towards Equius, who probably hated his very being at this moment.

“No, you can just pick me up halfway, that’ll be okay!” Nepeta told him, smiling awkwardly as the two had an intense stare-off. “I’m sure everything’ll be fine, there’s really nothing to worry about if you’re willing to do this for me!”

“Yeah, I’m absolutely _committed_ to helping you out here, Nepeta,” Karkat said, staring right at Equius. “I won’t let you down.”

Nepeta glanced in between the two, and a few tense moments passed before she broke the silence again.

“Well, okay in that case I’m gonna go --”

“I’ll see you two later,” Karkat told her, staring as Equius stood up, Nepeta nervously bounced on her heels.

“Yeah, I’ll, um -- I’ll see you Friday?”

“Oh, you can bet on it.”


	73. "Take mine."

“Here, take mine,” Nepeta told him, smiling slightly as she threw the pen at him. He caught it in both of his hands, looking back at her. “You can keep it, too, I hate that pen.”

“Why?” He asked, glancing back down at the paper and clicking the top of the pen, finding the nub not coming out. He had to click it a few more times to get it to do so, and when it did, a bunch of ink was clotted on the end. “Nevermind.”

“Yeah, don’t bother giving it back.”


	74. "We can share."

“Ugh, I left my lunch at home,” Nepeta bemoaned, sinking back in the chair as Karkat gave her a look. “I guess I forgot it in the fridge.”

“Look, we can just share,” Karkat told her, handing her a bag of those disgusting crackers in the shape of fish. “You can have whatever’s in my bag, I’m not hungry today anyway.”

“Really?” Nepeta asked, not hesitating to pop open the bag and stuff twenty crackers in her mouth. Karkat rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, it’s fine, just don’t touch my juice box, okay? I’ve been looking forward to it all day.”


	75. "I was just thinking about you."

“Oh, I was _just_ thinking about you!” Nepeta shouted, pointing at him across the room. “I need you to help me with something!”

Karkat took a step back, opening his mouth to respond as she practically shot across the room stopping only six inches away from him and taking any words he had planned to say right out of his mouth. She put her hands on his and tugged, pulling him forward just slightly with a great big grin stretching across her face.

“I need you to kiss me!” She told him, an urgent tone taking over and a determined look on her face. “It’s important!”

“Uh, I --” Karkat stuttered, not too sure what to make of this situation. “Not that, y’know, I -- I’m not _thrilled_ , to, uh, hear that, but --”

“ _Ugh_!” Nepeta groaned and didn’t waste a minute, reaching up with a hand to seize the back of his head and drag him down to her, taking only the briefest of seconds to squeeze his other hand before she launched at him, pressing her lips into his. Karkat’s eyes widened as she dived into him, almost pulling back as she kissed him, and he couldn’t help but notice that she tasted like . . . Was that peppermint?

She pulled back after ten seconds had passed, which, in his opinion, did not last long enough, and she stared up at him, a small smile coming across her face again.

“So?” She asked, looking curious now, “What did I taste like?”

“I-I’m sorry?” Karkat stammered, still stuck in the moment. Nepeta rolled her eyes, her hand slipping out of his and pressing against his chest now.

“What did I taste like?” She asked again, impatient now.

“Wha -- uh, peppermint?” He told her unsurely, and a grin slipped onto her face.

“Really?! Great, that’s awesome!” Nepeta exclaimed, “I can’t believe it worked, I have to tell Feferi!”

“What?” Karkat asked as she ran from him, picking up her phone and diving deeper into their house. “You can’t believe _what_ worked? _Nepeta_!”


	76. "I want you to have this."

“Here,” Karkat told her, handing her a small box. “I want you to have this.”

“What is it?” Nepeta questioned, pulling the box up to eye level and peering at it curiously. She shook it just a little bit, and no sound came out. “Doesn’t sound like anything.”

“It was my mom’s,” Karkat noted, a quiet tone coming to his voice. “It’s an old pin that she used to wear, I figured you might want it.”

“Are you sure?” She asked him, looking up towards his face. He gave her a slight nod, which she took as consent, and she slowly opened the box, finding the aforementioned pin sitting there. It had a silver border, but the focus of it was the small cancer sign painted delicately into the middle, in stark red. Nepeta picked it up, holding it delicately in her hand as she noticed the silver had eroded slightly, browning just a bit around the edges.

“Oh,” She said softly, “I love it.”


	77. "Call me if you need anything."

“And you have the files?”

“I have the files,” Nepeta noted, looking into her bag.

“And the papers are in the files?” Karkat asked.

“Papers are in the files, check,” Nepeta told him.

“And you have, like, water, right?” Karkat questioned, “The time sort of drags on, y’know, so like --”

“I have water, and some other stuff if I get bored,” Nepeta told him, smiling a little. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, I trust you,” Karkat said, sighing and running a hand through his dark hair. “Just, call me if you need anything, right? I’ll be right over there.”

“I promise I will.”


	78. "Do you want to come too?"

“Do you want to come too?” Nepeta asked, smiling slightly at him. “Tickets are only five bucks with student discounts!”

“You sure you’d be okay with me tagging along?” Karkat asked her, narrowing his eyes, “I mean, if this is supposed to be a just you thing --”

“No, I’d love if you tag along!” Nepeta told him, nodding and patting his arm a little. “Movies are ten times as fun when you go with someone.”


	79. "I'll still be here when you're ready."

“You don’t have to tell me anything, okay?”

Nepeta’s response consisted in a subtle move of her head; he wouldn’t have noticed had he not literally been watching her for the past three minutes. Karkat sighed, just a little bit, and brushed a hand through his hair as he tried to come up with something -- _anything_ \-- to say that didn’t sound like he was trying to be the biggest douche in the tri-state area. Fuck, really, he wished that they could just _talk_ about some of the shit they were going through, it’d make things a lot fucking easier for _him_.

And -- And for her, too, yeah.

Talking through things made him feel better, anyway, so -- had to be the same for everybody, right?

Right.

. . . . _Fuck_ he was bad at this.

“Look, Nepeta, just --” He tried, but she only tightened up, dragging her legs together into an even more scrunched up position then she already was. Her hands tightened on her hair, and she seemed just frozen in this space. Of course, he had no fucking clue what to do. What was he _supposed_ to do? Tell her everything’s going to be alright? Hug her? Yell at her and storm off for not fucking telling him why she was like this?

Like, fuck, come _on_!

He wasn’t _twelve_ , so the last option was a bust, and the second one seemed a little too handsy for the moment. And the first one was bullshit, everything’s not alright, so fuck that. There had to be something, some magical word he could say that would -- like, _fix_ her! She’s just sitting there! In the middle of the school’s theater! Fucking _dying_ , for all _he_ knew!

“Are you -- Fuck, I don’t know, _okay_?” He asked, trying his best to be considerate and sort of failing. “Do you need something? Some water? A -- A cat? A hug?”

Nepeta didn’t answer.

So, of course, now he was a little fucking concerned.

“I don’t -- I don’t know what I should do, to -- fix you, or -- “ He almost groaned, looking up at the ceiling. “If you even need to be fixed, god, I don’t fucking . . .” His voice trailed off, and he grew silent. Fuck, and now he could hear her breathing in the empty fucking theater, great. From the sound of it she wasn’t even _breathing_ properly, so for all he knew this could be a fucking heart attack or worse, an allergic reaction. What was he even supposed to do for either of those?

“Look, I’m -- I’m here for you, okay? So if you’re, like, fucking dying, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me that before you --”

“Leave me alone.”

Karkat stopped completely, surprised by her sudden urge to actually talk to him, and also a little offended by what she had decided to say.

“I’m sorry?” He asked, looking down at her with a glare as she still barely moved. “I’m not fucking going anywhere, not when you’re like -- _this_.”

“I’m fine, Karkat,” Nepeta said, lying. “Just go.”

“Look, I don’t know what the fuck gave you the idea that that’s happening, but --” He sighed, stepping back slightly and looking away from her. “Whatever’s going on, I’m gonna be here until it’s not. I don’t give a fuck if you tell me what’s happening, as long as you’re not dying, but -- fuck, I’ll be here when you’re ready. Even if that’s not today.”

He didn’t look at her for a long moment, but he definitely heard the sound of her seat moving as she shifted slightly. Karkat glanced back at her once it was done and she was looking up at him now, her eyes red and leaking slightly. Well, _fuck_ , if he knew she was crying he would’ve done something sooner, for christ’s --

“My dad died.”


	80. "Is your seatbelt on?"

He swore he could’ve heard a pin drop.

It got quiet, too quiet, as he stood and stared at her. Karkat froze, just froze, where he was, and Nepeta stared up at him, looking somewhere between pissed and tired and -- fuck, like she’s been crying for the last hour -- before he finally wracked up the nerve to actually say something.

“I -- _Fuck_ , Nepeta.”

A moment later, he regretted those words, because they sounded fucking stupid, but she wasn’t complaining. Not really. She only sighed in response, moving her head to look away from him completely.

“Meulin told me,” She said, sniffing a little. At his confused look, she added, “My sister. She called when I was in history. That’s why I -- why I left.”

He recalled, vividly, the image of her leaving the classroom to take an important call and not coming back. Karkat left class a good forty-five minutes later, trying to figure out where, exactly, she was, as she promised to go over the chemistry homework with him that afternoon.

That, clearly, wasn’t happening anymore.

“Did -- Did she say what --”

“Suicide.”

Nepeta let the word hang there, and Karkat didn’t touch them. He stared at her for just a minute longer, before he sighed, stepping back.

“Fuck, I’m -- I’m sorry, Nepeta,” He told her, not looking at her. “I had no clue.”

“It’s not your fault,” She answered, biting her bottom lip and looking down, as if she was trying to think. “You didn’t know. You were just trying to be nice.”

“There’s -- I don’t -- Fuck, I mean, do you want me to stay?” Karkat asked her, shoving his hands in his pockets with a distressed look. “I don’t -- I won’t if you don’t want me to.”

Nepeta didn’t answer for a long moment.

“No,” She said, a finality to her words, “You should stay.”

“What do you want me to do?” He asked, stepping right up next to her now that she had shown support for the action. “I can -- I can get you something, like -- like water, or, like I said, a cat, if that’s -- if that’s what you need, then --”

“I don’t know, Karkat, just --” Nepeta sighed, tucking a hair behind her ear. “Tell me something. Anything. I don’t care.”

Karkat thought for a moment, staring at her.

“ . . . Did -- Did I tell you that when I was twelve I went to Bible camp?”

Nepeta glanced at him.

“No.”

“Well,” Karkat sighed, moving to her side and throwing himself into the chair next to her. “Is your seatbelt on? ‘Cause I’ve got a wild _fucking_ story to tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH IM SUPER LATE WHOOPS
> 
> i have an ACTUAL excuse this time as i got sick all of last week so!!!!! thats my excuse lmfaooo, ill trY and be punctual this time!!! we've only got twenty chapters left so guess who's gonna fuckin ROCK EM OUT IN TWENTY DAYS OR LESS THATS RIGHT ME UNLEss i actually dont do that buT


	81. "Sweet dreams."

“You know,” Nepeta noted in the dead of night, when Karkat had finally started to drift off to sleep. “I heard on average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year. Isn’t that, like, weird?”

“Did you know,” Karkat said, a hazy tone coming to his voice, “That I couldn’t give less of a shit?”

“Just wanted to give you a fun fact,” She told him, glancing over to him before looking back up at the ceiling. “Sweet dreams.”


	82. “I was in the neighbourhood.”

“Oh, hey there!”

Nepeta shot him a smile, opening the door and leaning against the frame as he bounced on his heels at her porch. “What’re you here for?”

“I was in the neighborhood,” Karkat noted, shoving his hands in his pockets, “Thought I could just see how you’re, uh, doing.”

“I mean, I’m okay,” Nepeta said, looking up. “I’ve been binge-watching tv shows all afternoon, hoping Meulin doesn’t set off the smoke alarms.”

“Why would she set off the smoke --”

“Weed.”

“Oh,” Karkat said, glancing to his right. “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Nepeta agreed, adding, “Is there something you need to --”

“Do you want to hang out?” Karkat interrupted, looking back at her, “I mean, like -- Somewhere without weed smoke.”

“I’m pretty sure my entire neighborhood is --”

“Well, let’s take a walk, then,” Karkat said, “Go to the park or something, I don’t know.”

Nepeta smiled slightly.

“Sure. That sounds fun.”


	83. “Stay there.  I’m coming to get you.”

“You’re _where_?”

Nepeta sucked in a breath, shutting her eyes a little and wondering if Karkat really had been the better option to call in this situation.

“I’m . . . at the corner of Eighth and Luxemburg,” She told him, her hesitancy clear to anyone who heard her, which was nobody, because it was the dead of night and she was, hopefully, very much alone. “Y’know, where that --”

“ _Stay there_ , I’m coming to get you.”

“H-How long do you think it’ll take for you to get here?” Nepeta asked quickly, silently thankful that he was taking charge. “I don’t think there’s a --”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes, just hug the fucking street sign if you need to, but,” Karkat sighed a little, sounding a bit frustrated. “Just don’t leave.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll -- I’ll stay here,” Nepeta told him and laughed nervously. “I-I don’t really have anywhere else I wanna go, anyway, so --”

“Do you want me to stay on the phone with --”

“Please.”


	84. "The key is under the mat."

“The house is always open to you, okay?” Karkat told her, leaning up on the door frame as Nepeta began to leave, turning to look at him before she did. “Key’s under the mat, if I’m not home just let yourself in.”

“Thanks, Karkat,” Nepeta smiled and punched his arm. “And also thanks for letting me stay the night, I didn’t really look forward to going home after that.”

“I’m just glad you called me,” He noted, “And not fucking Equius, or your mom, or -- whatever.”

“Equius would’ve chewed me out for being in that part of town,” Nepeta said, smiling slightly. “And my mom probably would’ve done the same thing, so . . .”

“So I’m glad you came to me.”

“I’m glad too.”


	85. “It doesn’t bother me.”

“What! No! It doesn’t bother me!”

“Admit it, Nep,” Karkat told her, poking her in the shoulder. “You hate it.”

“I don’t! Really!” Nepeta told him, and tugged on the offending belt a little. It was, decidedly, ugly; a huge brass buckle and a bunch of tears made it look like it had come straight from the 1860’s. “It’s -- It’s flattering!”

“If you say you hate it, I’ll take it off,” Karkat noted, shrugging. “I couldn’t care --”

“I absolutely do not hate it,” Nepeta told him, pushing her hands against his chest. “If you like it, then you can wear it wherever you want --”

“That’s very nice of --”

“-- As long as I’m not there with you.”


	86. "You're important too."

“What’re you lookin’ at?” Nepeta asked, smiling as she nudged Karkat. He rolled his eyes and shook her off, pulling back the magazine cover.

“I’m looking at very important, very _non-disclosable_ information, Nepeta,” Karkat told her, glancing over before he looked back at the very important information in his hands. Nepeta leaned forward and caught a glimpse of the magazine’s name.

“You’re reading a soap opera magazine, Karkat,” Nepeta noted, to which he pulled back the magazine completely, throwing it out of her sight as she threw a grin at him, still leaning forward.

“It is _none_ of your business!” Karkat seethed, glaring at her, “Am I going to get fucking judged for reading a magazine --”

“A magazine that refers to how Carly and Sonny are going to break up for what seems to be the fiftieth time?” Nepeta said, and when a look of surprise crossed his face, she added, “I do overhear you talking about that hospital drama to Gamzee, y’know -- I mean, not like it’s _hard_.”

“Carly and Sonny are fucking terrible together, okay,” Karkat told her, pointing at her with the now rolled up magazine. “One of them needs to get hit by a fucking car.”

“You really like that show, huh?” Nepeta asked, propping her elbow onto her knee and leaning into her hand. “I’ve always thought of that stuff as trashy.”

“It is _not_ trashy.” Karkat shot a glare at her. “It’s as good as any other show on tv, _better_ even. They’re _important_ to me.”

“I see,” Nepeta said, raising her eyebrows just slightly as she stared at him. Karkat nodded to himself, unrolling the magazine and opening back up to the page he was on. Nepeta watched him for a moment longer before she looked away, staring down the steps of the school and watching the sun start to dip below the lines of houses and trees before them. She heard the page flip, and then silence again for a few more moments.

“I mean,” Karkat said, the quiet having sat uneasily on him, “You’re -- You’re important, too.”

Nepeta stole a glance at him, and when he looked back at her, she rolled her eyes.

“ _Thanks_.”


	87. "I saved you a seat."

“Karkat, over here!”

Nepeta waved her hand above the seats of the crowded bus, trying her best to look as noticeable as possible compared to the dozens of other students jostling each other as they tried to squeeze in. Karkat quickly made his way down the aisle, doing his best not to be pushed around before he nearly dived into the seat next to her, pushing his backpack up against her before he was trampled by the twenty other students trying to find a place to sit.

“Thanks --” He tried to say, but cut himself off due to the noise levels starting to reach a crescendo. Nepeta nodded, pushing his backpack away from her as he adjusted himself.

“I wanted to say I saved you a seat, but --” Nepeta had to shout to be heard and finally took the moment to cup her hands around her mouth. “--But it got too loud!”

“I understand!” Karkat yelled back, just as someone kicked the seat. “I appreciate the thought!”

“No problem!”


	88. “I’ll see you later.”

“Hey,” Nepeta said, smacking his arm to get his attention. Karkat reeled back, glaring at her as students aimlessly talked about summer on their way down the steps. “You’re going to Ag Center later today, right?”

“Yeah, I’m volunteering,” He told her, rubbing his arm a little bit. “Why?”

“Then I’ll see you later,” Nepeta said with a smile, “I’ll be there too.”

“Oh,” Karkat said, “Cool.”

“Yeah.”

She patted the part of his arm she had smacked, shooting him another grin before she headed down the stairs towards the school parking lot. He watched her for a moment, seeing her nearly skip down, her backpack tossing itself upward with every other step. Karkat stared until she bounced to the bottom and someone smacked his shoulder.

“Last day of school, and you still haven’t said anything?” Gamzee asked, a lazy smile etching its way across his face. “God. _Lame_ \--”

“Shut _up_ ,” Karkat told him, an edge to his voice as he pushed Gamzee off of him and started stomping his way down the steps. He heard the other stumble for a moment before trudging off after him.

“Don’t get mad at me,” Gamzee said, “Get mad at _yourself_. You won’t see her all summer --”

“I’ll see her tonight.”

“You will?”

“Yeah,” He replied, wondering if shoving an elbow in Gamzee’s side would seem too rude. “She’ll be volunteering at the Ag Center, too. So I’ll see her then.”

“Okay, and then what?” Gamzee asked him, “What comes after that, buddy? Because, as far as I know, that’s the only time --”

“ _So_ ,” Karkat glared at him, “I have until nine tonight to tell her. Okay? That’s when the thing ends, so as long as I do it before then --”

“You sure you’ll have the guts?” Gamzee interrupted, throwing a smile to him. “You’ve tried to do it all year, what makes you think now --”

“It’s my last chance,” Karkat told him, “If I don’t do it now, I might just fucking lose my mind.”

“That’s your only motivator?”

“I mean, I’d also like to date her, so. That too.”

“Understandable.”


	89. "I noticed."

“I noticed,” Nepeta said, smiling at him a little. “You’re wearing that stupid tie for me, right?”

“I’m glad you saw,” Karkat noted, “I was worried you wouldn’t.”

“It's covered in little cats, how wouldn’t I?” She asked, grabbing at it and holding it in her hand. “You sure you’re okay with wearing it? Where’d you even get it?”

“Doesn’t matter where I got it, and of course I’m okay with wearing it, why would I put it on if I wasn’t?” Karkat questioned, taking the tie back in his hands and leaving it there. 

“To impress me?” Nepeta suggested, pushing his chest a little with her hands.

“I think I can do that without the tie.”


	90. "You can tell me anything."

“Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right?” Karkat asked her, sliding closer to her. Nepeta only rolled her eyes and stared away from him, at the ground.

“Yeah, I know,” She noted, letting out a little sigh. “I’d just rather not right now.”

“I’m just saying the offer is out there.”

“That’s good to know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woOOO oops time got away from me!! but on the bright side we only got ten left!! maybe ill get it done before like. the end of november lmfao


	91. "I hope you like it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @alice doesnt live here fandom please dont kill me ive never watched this fucking movie

“You’re _kidding_!” Nepeta yelled, throwing and hand out and smacking Karkat’s shoulder. He winced, a little, as she added, “There’s no way, where even are we?”

“Somewhere in Arizona --”

“And you said you saw --”

“I _said_ \--” Karkat enunciated, sporting a slight glare. “--That there was a sign that said _World’s Largest Cow Skull_ , and I thought --”

“Uh, _yes_!” Nepeta exclaimed, a grin widening across her face. “There’s been nothing but, like, the _road_ for the past two hours, let’s go!”

“See, I was hoping you’d like it, because that’s where they filmed _Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore_ ,” Karkat told her, and then thought for a second and added, “Which, by the way, you still haven’t fucking seen and it is inside this van, at this very moment.”

“What? I thought I saw it, it’s the one with Patrick Swayze,” Nepeta noted, looking confused, “LIke, the two gangs and the kid from _Happy Days_ was there, and somebody died --”

“First off, aside from the blaring wrongs here, Ralph Macchio was in the _Karate Kid_ , not _Happy Days_ , you’re thinking of Chachi, Joanie’s boyfriend,” Karkat explained, and Nepeta oh’ed. “Second, _ADLHA_ \--”

“What does that mean?”

“Alice doesn’t live here --”

“Oh, okay, go on --”

“ -- Patrick Swayze isn’t in that, you’re thinking of _The Outsiders_. _ADLHA_ stars Ellen Burstyn, she’s a --”

“ _There it is_!”


	92. "I want you to be happy."

“Karkat, talk to me,” Nepeta said, pursing her lips as she stared at him. He was just sitting in her car, absolutely still, his hand sort of slumped against the bleeding hole in his knee. The cloth she had given him wasn’t doing much good like this, but she couldn’t exactly take her hands off the wheel.

She sighed, a little bit, staring ahead and seeing the blue sign with the giant H on it, telling her the hospital was somewhere past this next exit.

“You’re not gonna die on me, right?” Nepeta asked, and she got a little stir from him in response to that. “ _Right_?”

She took one hand off the wheel and shook his shoulder, just a little bit. Karkat groaned, side-eying her with a slight glare.

“If you actually kept that cloth on your new piercing maybe you wouldn’t be staining my leather seats so badly,” Nepeta noted, side-eying him in response to his side-eying. He turned his head towards her with an even deeper glare and she added, “I’m just _saying_ , if I hadn’t been there when Eridan and Sollux let your knee --”

“Can you stop talking?” Karkat asked, malice and pain obvious in his voice. Nepeta took the exit.

“I mean, it’s my car, isn’t it?” Nepeta responded, sneaking a glance as she went up the ramp. “You’re lucky I didn’t turn on the radio.”

“I’m _lucky_ that I got a tetanus shot five and a half years ago,” Karkat told her, and when she didn’t respond, added, “I’ll probably need another one.”

“Do you have your phone with you?” Nepeta asked, changing the topic and looking over to him. “I can call your parents or someone to drive you home, I --”

“No,” Karkat groaned, putting that cloth up against his skin again and wincing a little as he could feel the dampness of his blood on it. “My -- My dad is out on a fucking business trip, and Kankri is on a _mission_ trip --”

“Shouldn’t you let them know?”

“If I can avoid it, I fucking will,” He seethed, “Kankri is just going to scream and baby me for the next seven weeks if he hears about it, after I get the five hour long lecture, complete with a fucking powerpoint because I know he’s been _waiting_ for me to fuck up.”

Nepeta grew silent for a second.

“And dad is going to kill me when he gets back, he’s gonna act like this was all my fault and that I should be ashamed for -- for _whatever_ he ends up blaming me for,” He added and finally shut up for two seconds, looking away from her. “ . . . So just call Gamzee, you have his number, right?”

Nepeta was quiet.

“Right.”

Karkat glanced over at her, and she was staring at the road.

They didn’t talk for a moment.

“So, uh, this is just me trying not to pass out, right, but -- How -- How do you know Gamzee?”

“My sister is dating his older brother.”

Nepeta said it like it was a fact; no emotion to her voice. She just stared at the road, silent. He let that silence stew for a moment before he responded.

“That’s cool.”

She still didn’t look at him.

“Yeah.”

Karkat saw the hospital in the distance, letting out a small sigh of relief that was followed by a wave of desperation as he was reminded he hadn’t been to the doctor in five and a half years. God, they’d probably prick his finger, that’d suck.

“They’ll probably prick my finger,” Karkat noted, sounding a little distressed and looking to say something, spark a conversation, anything.

“Yeah, they might,” Nepeta responded, and shut up. He glanced over at her a few times before he got a little fed up.

“Alright, fuck, what’s wrong?” Karkat asked her, staring at her, “I’m sitting here bleeding all over your leather seats, I know, I’m the fucking worst, is there something I’m missing?”

“No, _no_ , you’re _fine_ \--” Nepeta said, obviously struggling and sounding conflicted, “Just -- _God_ , Karkat, don’t you have a _filter_?”

“A fucking _what_?” He responded, shaking his head, “No, I don’t have a _fucking_ filter --”

“Not in that --” And she sighed. “ -- Just forget it, okay?” Nepeta told him, staring back at the road. Karkat already disagreed.

“No, no, _not_ okay,” He said, sounding surprisingly calm for the first time this afternoon. “ _What_ are talking about, did I --”

“Look, it’s fine,” Nepeta said, glancing over at him. “I’m just gonna take you into the hospital, and then we’ll just avoid the fact that this conversation even happened, okay?”

“What -- Nepeta I don’t understand, what’s _wrong_?” He asked her, “What’s -- What did I say, was there something I missed --”

“I mean, _God_ , Karkat, at least your family _cares!_ ”

She didn’t even look at him when she dropped that on him, her eyes staring at the road with such an intense glare, almost as if she was angry at that and not him. Her hands gripped the wheel, a cold, almost frustrated look on her face as she did everything she could not to look at him. He was left staring at her for a long moment as they approached a stop light that was currently green.

“I . . . _Fuck_ , I -- I forgot, I --”

“That my dad’s dead?” Nepeta cut over him, taking a moment to actually snap her head towards him. “Yeah, it happens.”

“That’s not what I --”

“Karkat, at least your dad pays attention to you, _my_ mom couldn’t be bothered half the time,” Nepeta told him, the light turning yellow as she slowed the car. “ _My_ mom is stuck in therapy on weekends and crumbles into little pieces whenever she sees so much as a picture of my dad on _Facebook_. Not to mention that she works all night and I _never_ see her, but, y’know, _your_ family sucks.”

The car pulled to a full stop, the light bright red.

“And at least Kankri _cares_ , okay?” She said, glancing at him, “Meulin is always high off _whatever_ she smokes, and if she’s _not_ , then she’s with Kurloz and they’re doing God knows _what_. I haven’t stepped into her room in the past _eight months_ , she hasn’t talked to me in _two_. I don’t think I’ve even seen her _sober_ since dad --”

She stopped, something caught in her throat. The light turned green, and she stepped on the gas, Karkat watching her as a worried look crossing his face. There was a long moment where they both stayed quiet, the car whirring beneath them. He moved his eyes away from her and down to his bleeding knee, and when she started to talk again, he didn’t look back at her.

“Just --” Nepeta sighed. “I just --”

“I get it, okay, your life sucks,” Karkat said for her, cutting across her. “At least both my parents are still alive, no matter how much they hate each other. At least my brother doesn’t pretend he doesn’t know me and actively tries to get me invested in the things he does. _At least_ my mom likes to keep contact with me and wants to get back into my life, I _get_ it, _okay_ , my life is _so_ much better than _yours_ , I should stop fucking complaining. I get it.”

Nepeta was quiet.

“Look, I just --” Karkat started, sighing and putting a hand to his face, pulling at it and knowing whatever was about to come out his mouth was going to sound stupid. “Just -- Things suck. I understand. You’re pissed because I’m acting like a fucking stud who forgot their friend’s dad died nearly a year ago, I’m _sorry_. Your dad is dead while my parents are not only both _alive_ , but also both active in my _daily life_! I should be fucking _thankful_.”

“That’s not what I --”

“Sure sounded like it.”

His words came out a lot harsher than he wanted as he gave her a look, and Nepeta leaned back in her seat.

She sighed.

“I just -- I just want you to be _happy_ , alright?”

Karkat glanced at her.

“I don’t even know why I care about you at all,” Nepeta noted, quietly, and another silence hung between them as she turned to head towards the hospital parking lot. “I -- I guess . . . I guess it was just you? I don’t know, this doesn’t --”

“No, no, you’re fine,” Karkat told her, curious now. Nepeta looked over at him.

“I guess I just . . . Something about you,” Nepeta told him, waving a hand. “I just got . . . _Drawn_ to you, I don’t know. You’re -- “ She pulled a face and shrugged. “ _Likeable_ isn’t the word.”

“Noticeable? Loud? _Aggravating_ , that's it --”

“No, no, more like . . . I don’t know, you’re someone I was supposed to know,” Nepeta explained, turning into the parking lot. “Someone I was supposed to care about, and so, I -- I did.” He looked away from her.

“Don’t know why you would,” Karkat said, almost to himself. She still heard.

“I tried explaining it to Equius, but . . . Y’know,” Nepeta shrugged, “He _doesn’t_ like you, so.”

“Yeah.”

Nepeta pulled into a parking space near the front entrance.

She stopped the car and pulled out the keys, popping open the door before she stopped for a moment, looking at him.

“You know,” Nepeta said, “I’ll just -- I’ll drive you back to your house. I can stick around for a while, it’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” Karkat asked, popping open his own car door.

Nepeta smiled a little.

“I mean, not like there’s anyone waiting for me at home.”


	93. "I believe in you."

“What do you want me to say, like, break a leg?” Karkat asked her, smiling a little as Nepeta rolled her eyes in response, and he added, “I believe in you, how about that?”

“That’ll do, I _suppose_ ,” Nepeta noted, glancing back at him a little bit. “Though I would’ve liked something a little more _personal_.”

“What? I can’t keep guessing, throw me a bone here,” He told her, and she let out a short breath, almost irritated with him, and tapped her cheek, giving him a knowing look. Karkat finally clued in, letting out a short, “ _Oh_ ,” before he leaned down and kissed her cheek, a short peck before he lifted his face to look at her again. Her smile brightened and he squeezed her shoulder a little bit.

“ _Thank_ you,” Nepeta said, crossing her arms. “That is _exactly_ what I was looking for.”


	94. "You can do it."

“Come on, Karkat, you can do it!” Nepeta smiled, patting his arm excitedly. “It’s not everyday you get this kind of opportunity!”

“I appreciate the support, Nepeta, but --” Karkat sighed, putting a hand to his face so she wouldn’t see how red he was getting. “I really can’t.”

“And why can’t you?” Nepeta asked, her voice so sweet, and innocent, and naive, and just, god.

He had half a mind to open his mouth and say, “ _Because I’d be away from you_ ,” but he caught his tongue before it could escape him and instead just said, “It’s too far a drive.”

Karkat hoped she believed him more than he did.


	95. "Good luck."

“I’m going to _kill_ that guy!” Nepeta seethed, her face red and her voice pissed. Her anger hadn’t reached Karkat, thankfully, as he slung an arm around her shoulder and a bout of calmness came through his tone.

“Alright, good luck, he’s a hundred pounds heavier than you are and probably has a fucking black belt, or whatever,” Karkat told her, and the look he got back made him want to dive out of the way.

“I wasn’t asking for your _opinion_ ,” She responded, her voice dangerously low and now, oddly enough, he felt that anger was directed at him. He unslung his arm and put his hands up in the air in the universal sign of, “ _Please don’t kill me_.”

“Hey, I was just saying!” Karkat defended, and she looked away from him. “You’re pissed, I get it, I should just shut up.”

“You’re _fine_ ,” She said, and he could tell it was very difficult for her to say that. He stared at her for a second.

“ . . . Well, fuck, if you say so.”


	96. "I brought you an umbrella."

“It’s pouring rain outside, there’s absolutely _no_ way you’re getting to class,” Vriska noted, peering out the glass door. Rain pounded against it, and even though the dorm housed five stories, they could clearly hear the rain echoing against the top of the building.

“It’s an _exam day_ , Vriska,” Nepeta told her, shoving her raincoat on. “If I have to go into class soaking wet, so be it.”

“Your funeral, but don’t say I didn’t -- _woah_!” Vriska suddenly stopped, clasping her hands around her eyes to see further outside, grinning. “I think someone out there has the same idea!”

Nepeta looked out there with her, peering through the door until she gasped, spotting the bright yellow umbrella sprinting across campus. Vriska started laughing, trying to say something along the lines of, “ _Holy shit, that’s so fucking stupid_ ,” but not quite getting it right.

“Are they coming this way?” Nepeta asked, a little concerned, and Vriska nearly let out a scream.

“Oh my god, _they are_!” Vriska grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close, poking the door and yelling, “ _Holy shit_! What the fuck are they _thinking_!”

“They’re getting soaked!” Nepeta exclaimed, nudging Vriska’s side as she cackled, leaning forward on the door again.

“This is so fucking stupid, I can’t --”

“Oh my god.” Nepeta grabbed Vriska’s shoulder, pulling her backwards. “Oh my god, _Vriska_.”

“What?”

“ _That’s Karkat_.”

“That’s _who_?!” Vriska screamed, her mouth falling open and she slammed herself into the door, trying to get a better look. “Holy fucking shit, _that is!_ ”

“Oh my _god_ , why is he coming _here_?” Nepeta asked, “ _Why is he here_ , he doesn’t have --”

“Here he fucking comes, fucking hell -- !”

The door slammed open and, as foreseen, Karkat came inside, soaked to the bone and dripping all over the floors of the Plathe building. He let out a sigh, slumping against the now closed door as Vriska almost seemed to screech with delight.

“Holy fucking _shit_ , Karkat -- !”

“ _Why_ are you --”

Karkat held up a hand, stopping them both from talking for a moment as he collapsed the umbrella, one last sigh coming out of him. He hung his head and held the umbrella out towards Nepeta.

“I brought you an umbrella.”


	97. "I'll pick you up at the airport."

“You’ve packed everything right?”

“Yeah,” Nepeta noted, looking around the empty hotel room. “I’ve got, like, everything. We’re solid.”

“And you’re not forgetting anything?” Karkat’s voice cracked slightly over the phone.

“Nope,” She responded, popping her ‘p’. 

“And you --”

“I’m gonna be late for my flight at this rate, Karkat.”

“Right.” She heard him sigh on the other end. “I’ll pick you up at the airport later today, then?”

“Can’t wait.”


	98. "Take a deep breath."

“Karkat, fair warning,” Feferi noted, glancing up from what looked like a terribly twisted ankle. “This is gonna hurt.”

“You couldn’t, I dunno, give me a fucking pill or something?” Karkat asked, not looking at her and instead keeping his eyes on the incredibly sunny sky. “Some fucking anaesthetic, I don’t know --”

“Just take a deep breath, Karkat,” Nepeta told him, grabbing his shoulder. “She’s a _medical student_ , not an _anaesthesiologist_.”

“And I’d appreciate a slight thanks, because, y’know, I’m doing this for _free_ \--”

“ _Thanks_ ,” Karkat gritted his teeth, “Doing a bang up job on my stupid fucking ankle. Send my fucking condolences to your parents for their --”

Karkat bit his tongue and swore, loudly, and for a good twenty seconds the moment Feferi twisted his ankle back to where it wouldn’t look so unnatural. Nepeta leaned away from him, giving him a very serious looking squint as he stopped swearing and instead threw his hands to his face, evidently in a lot of pain.

“Is that better?” Nepeta asked, letting him sit like that for a long moment.

“ _No_ ,” He managed, and Feferi stared at him odd.

“It better be, I didn’t spend the last six years in college for a solid _no_.”


	99. "Be careful."

He hesitated.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Eridan hissed, punching Karkat’s shoulder as non-discreetly as he could. “She’s gonna fucking disappear and be gone from your life in _twenty seconds_ , say something, _douche_!”

“Just shut your _fuck_ , Eridan,” Karkat seethed in response, shoving him backwards with his elbow and using him as a launching point as he stepped forward towards the gate. Nepeta stood there, in line with her ticket held firmly in her hand, the letters “LOS ANGELES” written in fat, black lettering. He huffed to himself, wondering _why_ he was doing this, _why_ he was so _stupid_ , why hadn’t he just _shut up_ and _kissed her_ already, because _frankly_ , that’s what he _wanted_ to do, and if he wasn’t a --

“A 1-30, you can start boarding now.”

He should take his own advice for once.

Karkat walked forward a little faster, now, spotting Nepeta moving forward in the line and approaching her just as she was approaching the gate. Luck was a funny thing, but it was also bullshit, because she was already walking forward to the handler and if he could just get to her before she turned --

“Nepeta!”

His mouth opened for him, and thank _fuck_ that it did.

Nepeta turned, her wide eyes sparkling in the sunlit area of the airport, lighting up the room in this fucking way that only she could do and _god don’t fall in love with her all over again_ \--

“Karkat?” Nepeta asked, someone behind her already moving up the line too. The handler went ahead and checked them in, letting her do whatever it is that she was doing. He had a very vague inkling that this wasn’t the first time this kind of psuedo-romantic bullshit happened here.

But the words he wanted to say drained out of his mouth, conveniently left hanging open as he stared at her, and he _knew_ he looked liked a fucking idiot, and he _knew_ that this was the stupidest thing he's ever done, and he _knew_ Eridan would yell at him later, and, fuck, he would yell at _himself_ later, but --

“Be careful.”

Fuck, he was gonna yell at himself _now_.

But Nepeta smiled, something coy and small, and he didn’t know if she could see how red his face was getting like this, but _god_ , he hoped she couldn’t, because she was getting closer and he was getting redder and every single nerve in his body started screaming because _she was getting closer and_ \--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last two chapters will b posted tomorrow :3c seeya !!! (theyre already finished)


	100. "I love you."

And she kissed him.

And, fuck, god, _shit_ \--

She tasted like a fucking morning after a sheet of rain, like the evening beginning to frost over for the first time in mid-November, like a firework show in March, like a fucking heater left on for too long and everybody’s screaming because it’s on _fire_ and then it was _ending_ and she leaned away and _why was it ending, why wasn’t it lasting_ and she was opening her mouth and _why wasn’t it_ \--

“I love you.”

She smiled at him, reaching up a hand to grab his arm, squeezing it once or twice. Karkat felt numb and stupid and vaguely entranced all at once, and Nepeta stared at him, for almost too long.

“How about I text you?” Nepeta asked, staring at him and looking just a little concerned.

“Yeah,” Karkat said, and then closed his mouth, and shut up again.

Nepeta nodded.

“Yeah,” She said, and started moving away from him, backwards, and towards the gate. When she turned, he put a hand to his forehead and let out the longest breath he had ever held in. Fuck. Shit. Eridan was right for once, he -- this was the best thing he had ever decided to do. Karkat had no idea what he would have done if he hadn’t told her, just then, and have her be gone forev --

“See you next week!”


	101. "I wanted you to know."

She waved a little, as she said that.

Karkat took a solid step back, and turned, and spotted Eridan.

Eridan waved, looking like the smuggest fucking person on the planet, and Karkat mouthed the words, “ _You motherfucker_ ,” to him, which was replied with the words, “ _Fuck you,_ ” and the birdie.

Karkat would’ve murdered him right there, on the spot, had his phone not buzzed right then and there. He grabbed it from his pocket, taking a quick glance at the words on the screen.

 **arsenicCatnip** : :33< that was you saying you loved me right

 **arsenicCatnip** : :33< like that was. that was what was going on right there right like i wanted you to know that that was what i was saying to you so

 **carcinoGeneticist** : YES

 **arsenicCatnip** : :33< oh thank _god_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //ellen degeneres ending theme plays//  
> ITS OVEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR WE'RE DONE  
> special thanks to Giga for this last prompt ;) I really enjoyed writing all of these!! I may have lost track of time a few (thanks school n death n DEPRESSION) but im really glad i finished this!!!! I'm not sure when ill make my next grand debut back into the katnep scene, but rest assured i'm literally writing another chapter for that soulmate au bc i loved it so much i wanted to come back to it. thanks again for reading and i appreciate all the comments that were left!!!! thank you!!!!!! have a wonderful november day <3


End file.
